Kyra Mancktelow, who was recently awarded the 2021 Telstra NATSIAA Emerging Artist award, will be hosting the Sitting Down Place exhibition at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery later this month.
Kyra is a Quandamooka woman with links to Mardigan, Kabi Kabi and South Sea Islander peoples.
Sitting Down Place is a unique exhibition that speaks to the history of Minjerribah by referencing the Myora Mission and the resistance and resilience of the Quandamooka people.
Through her use of sculpture and printmaking, Kyra tells many stories, with heritage and family central to her practice.
Kyra's unique style uses garments and printing techniques to tell a story.
“The exhibition consists of garments made of the 1896 uniforms as well as prints which are impressions from these garments,” she said.
“It is talking about the attempt of assimilation and then further to that recognising the history and talking about the strong cultural practices that were kept during the mission.”
Her technique of design and printing was developed through trial and error before Kyra said she fell in love with the style.
“It first started out as an experiment, and then before long I fell in love with it,” she said.
“I have continued to expand on it, finding more stories to tell through the printing to show the different history.”
Council’s Arts, Culture and Events portfolio spokesperson Cr John Learmonth said securing the Sitting Down Place exhibition was a credit to Bundaberg Regional Galleries, providing the community with an opportunity to see such a high level of art.
“This is an incredible exhibition to have in Bundaberg and I credit the hard work of our galleries team in ensuring that the community has access to view these wonderful artworks,” Cr Learmonth said.
“This is a very different exhibition and I encourage the community to visit the gallery to have a look for themselves.”
The exhibition has only been on show at the Logan Art Gallery previously.
Having just been awarded the 2021 Telstra NATSSIA Emerging Artist Award, Kyra’s work has now been recognised at a national level.
“I feel honoured to have won the award,” she said.
“Especially amongst all the other amazing finalists, it was great to be recognised.”
Sitting Down Place will be on display at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery from Saturday, 28 August until Thursday, 7 November.
For more information head to the What's On website.
