‘I cry every time I see it’: raw exhibition steals CIAF 2025

A unique crocodile dance and an exhibition that moved its artist to tears became crowd favourites at CIAF 2025, watch this year's standouts.

Artist Dylan Sarra took out the CIAF 2025 people's choice award for his emotional retelling of first contact in Australia and its cover up. Picture: Louis Lim.

A powerful exhibition that moved its artist to tears every time he saw it, has been awarded a major honour to cap off the 2025 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.

Thousands of people visited the fair across the event’s four days which featured more than 300 visual artists and 100 performers.

Taribelang and Gooreng Gooreng (Bundaberg region) artist Dylan Sarra won the people’s choice award and $5000 prize on Sunday night for his retelling of Indigenous first contact.

More than 400 artists and performers participated in CIAF 2025 under the theme ‘Pay Attention!’ Picture: Lewis Bin Doraho

The exhibition featured several progressively burnt ‘Gulmari’ shields worn down by musket sized bullets and stone tipped spears that portrayed how violence was inflicted.

Mr Sarra said creating the exhibition was “one of the most vulnerable things” he had done.

“The very first shield represented our people in traditional ways and those spears had the stone tips on them,” he said.

“With the Native Police introduction, which were the spears on the other side, they came in and decimated thousands of people, hundreds of groups and the way that they dispersed the evidence was to burn the bodies in heaps or put them in tidal creeks so they’d flow out to sea.

“Imagine that conflict for the first time, our mob seeing and experiencing that ... there was nothing in their history.”

The exhibition took more than six months to complete and will form part of a broader series in Queensland Museum later this year.

Mr Sarra said the process was gut wrenching but hoped the art would help people understand history.

“I’ll be really honest, what I did for CIAF was probably one of the most vulnerable things I’ve done in my own art practice ... I cry every time I see it,” he said.

“The last six months were hell but I felt it was so important. It was worth persevering through that and enduring it to produce something that started a conversation in an interesting and positive way — using art as a legitimate form of language.

“We’re looking at people and we’re connecting history and people in a way that we probably better understand today.”

Multidisciplinary artist Alick Tipoti took out the innovation award and $10,000 prize on Friday night for his exceptional choreography and design of new totem props for his dance team. Alick Tipoti pictured with judges Jack Wilkie-Jans, Sebastian Goldspink and Rebecca Ray. Picture: Veronica Sagredo

Bernard Singleton took out the Premier's Award for Excellence, receiving a $25,000 prize for his imposing wooden carving titled ‘Offering’, while Badu Island artist Allick Tipoti won the CIAF innovation award.

CIAF artistic director Teho Ropeyarn wanted this year’s theme ‘Pay Attention’ to highlight the issues affecting indigenous Australians.

He was confident the message got through.

“We remind Australian people each and every year, whether it’s during Australia Day, or NAIDOC ... but I think pay attention gave the national discourse an art focus,” he said.

“Just to showcase where Queensland is now in terms of the truth, and treaty, and all that this was a reminder.

“To see that they were all so passionate about the theme, about the event, and what the message was it shows we’re building throughout the country that unity, connection, and hope for the future.”

Teho Ropeyarn is the acting artistic director of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair Picture: Brendan Radke

Artists and performers closed the fair just after 3pm Sunday afternoon but planning for 2026 has already started.

Mr Ropeyarn said work was underway to decide a new theme.

“There is nothing like CIAF in Australia, and we sit there amongst all other art fairs around the world — we’re unique,” he said.

“We’re right here in Cairns, we want to let the people of Cairns know locally that you’ve got a world-class art fair here, right at your doorstep, and you don’t have to fly to Brisbane or Sydney.”

Originally published as ‘I cry every time I see it’: raw exhibition steals CIAF 2025