Lockhart River Arts Indigenous Corporation is a prominent Indigenous Australian art centre located on the eastern side of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.
Lockhart River Arts Centre was established in 1995. The establishment of the Art Centre was influenced in part by a group of young artists just out of school who together became known as “The Art Gang”. The artists of Lockhart River Art Centre have been recognised for many years both nationally and internationally as “The Art Gang”.
Painters, weavers and crafters at the art centre include “The Old Girls”, a respected group of elders who have also taken the art world by storm with their vibrant artworks. Their works is amongst the country’s most collectables. Also included are younger contemporary artists who have been the recipients of art prizes and awards, and whose works are included in major public and private collections. Some of the artists have passed on overtime but their legacy, traditional values and cultural heritage has left a footprint through their artworks, most of which have been sold out and are now in public and private collections.
The Art Centre continues to encourage, work with, promote and represent indigenous Lockhart River artists and their diverse range of artworks through paintings, ceramics, prints, basket weaving and other traditional craft works.
The Art Centre has established active working relations with galleries both nationally and internationally to exhibit and showcase Lockhart River Arts. The Art Centre also participates annually at the Cairns Indigenous Art fair (CIAF) and has firm plans to participate at the annual Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair.
The artists are paid weekly subjective on each individual artists sales. From the sale of each artwork, 50% is paid directly to the artist. The remaining 50% is put back into supporting artists with the Art Centre providing artists canvas, linen, acrylic paints, paint brushes and necessary materials to produce artworks. The 50% retained by the Art Centre also covers costs for exhibition related travel, accommodation, daily allowance as well as attendance at workshops.
“Art Gang” is a trade mark of Lockhart River Indigenous Corporation and cannot be used by other art centres or artists not recognised as a current member of Lockhart River Indigenous Corporation.
Lockhart River Aboriginal community is 850 kms north of Cairns and is nestled between Quintel Beach and nearby lush lowland rainforest, which has a magnificent bird life that draws watchers from across the world. The beach has panoramic views and features as a common thread in the artists’ work.
Lockhart River is accessible by air through Skytrans Airlines. Private charter flights and other operators also fly into Lockhart. The community is accessible by road during the dry season between May and mid-December each year. Wet Season starts between December and early May. It is advisable that road travellers check the Bureau of Meteorology for updated information prior to commencement of travel.
Fishing is the most popular past time activity at Lockhart River. Locals are skilled and they use various methods for fishing including the use of handline with bait.
The main Aboriginal languages of the Lockhart River region are a group of closely related dialects with Kuuku Ya’u, Uutaalnganu and Umpila from the coastal regions, while the inland dialects are Southern Kaanju and Northern Kaanju. There is also the Wuthathi language group from the Shelburne/Margaret Bay region. Lockhart Creole is the home language in the Lockhart River community.
https://lockhartriverart.com.au/