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Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians

We pay our respects to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestors of this land, their spirits and their legacy. The foundations laid by these ancestors give strength, inspiration and courage to current and future generations, both First Nations and non-First Nations peoples, towards creating a better Queensland.

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  • As it Happened: Clancestry 2022

As it Happened: Clancestry 2022

Clancestry 2022 is over but not forgotten!

The jam-packed two-week program of events ran from 13 to 28 May 2022 and brought together First Nations voices, ideas and talent through performance and professional development opportunities.

QPAC transformed into a vibrant First Nations space thanks to the beautiful artwork of Quandamooka Nunukul artist Casey Coolwell-Fisher, who led the site design. 

Watch Clancestry 2022 as it happened:

Clancestry 2022 got off to a monumental start on Blak Friday with First Gathering, which celebrated the Land, Waters and Sky that surround QPAC, followed by a Green Jam gig with the powerful musical storytelling of Uncle Joe Geia.

Festival highlights included the epic music concert BLAKTIVISM, which saw a cross-generational line-up including Bart Willoughby, Baarka and Tasman Keith lay bare issues such as First Nations sovereignty, police brutality and state oppression; and the world premiere of COOKED by Digi Youth Arts and The Good Room, which turned hundreds of years of colonial thinking on its head – Aunties to the front!

Before and after shows, audiences soaked up the free exhibitions: Stories from Here in the Tony Gould Gallery, showcasing the vast archive of photographer Jo-Anne Driessens; and Storytellersin the QPAC Tunnel, featuring seven First Nations storytellers acknowledging the seven watershed regions of Queensland.

During the work week we hosted a free lunchtime program of talks, performances and workshops so passersby could connect and learn language, weaving, bush tucker and more from our local community.

There was plenty of fun for the little ones every Saturday on Namul Namul Day with colouring activities, scavenger hunts and free entertainment courtesy of Lucas Proudfoot and Our Backyard by Alinta McGrady and Waveney Yasso.

After dark, Biggest Mobs drew in the crowds with a stacked line-up of cabaret, poetry, drag queen bingo, comedy and music.

View the gallery of highlights below.

Clancestry will be back in 2023 so keep your eye out for news and we hope to see you for the next one!

Photography by Tai Bobongie
Video by Wandarra Media and Luminare Media 

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