On a warm June evening in Gimuy, Georgia Mokak and Rachael Bywaters stood before a circle of First Nations storytellers, their voices rising not just in dialogue but in quiet revolution. This was the spark of Breaking Ground in a Digital Age—a new chapter in the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair’s (CIAF) mission to place storytelling power firmly in First Nations hands. Held annually on Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Country in Cairns, CIAF has long been a beacon of cultural celebration and artistic sovereignty. Now, with a $50,000 investment from Creative Australia’s Storytelling and Recording: First Nations Project Fund, the 2026 Ambassador Program is evolving into a year-round force for truth, training, and self-determined representation.
For too long, First Nations narratives have been filtered, misrepresented, or extracted without consent. This initiative flips the script. Led through CIAF’s CATAPULT professional development platform and in partnership with Talicia Minniecon of Mob Made Media & Communications Agency (MMM&CA), the program will deliver on-Country, online, and hybrid workshops across regional and remote Queensland from June 2026 to June 2027. With support also from Tourism and Events Queensland and the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA), the expansion includes a dedicated Zenadth Kes Ambassador—ensuring voices from the far north are not just included but centered.
The core of the program is ethical storytelling: media engagement, consent, attribution, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) protections, and hands-on training in audio and video recording using accessible tools. These are not abstract concepts but practical shields and instruments. In 2025, the pilot ambassador program reached over 1.8 million people online and directly led to paid commissions and creative collaborations for alumni like Samara Barlow-Fukofuka and Kerry Klimm. Now, the 2026 program builds on that momentum, embedding digital truth-telling into the cultural fabric through partnerships with regional art centres and community leaders across Southeast Queensland, Cape York, and Gulf communities.
As artistic director Teho Ropeyarn puts it, this is about legacy: “CIAF has always been about creating platforms for First Nations voices, creativity and cultural leadership.” With CATAPULT already supporting artists since 2014, this new truth-telling stream deepens that commitment. The first activation, Breaking Ground in a Digital Age, takes place Wednesday 10 June—a date that marks not just a workshop, but a turning point.
In a world where stories shape reality, this initiative ensures First Nations peoples aren’t just telling their stories—they’re protecting them, owning them, and passing them on with integrity. And that changes everything.