From this region has emerged a whole new contemporary painting movement of mainly female artists. The bold, vibrant paintings with sweeps of brilliant colour on canvas have lost none of their antecedents meaning shown in the ageless art and craft from Cape York communities. Known as either Cape York, or the Gulf Country or the Top End this region is often perceived by many Australians as a wild frontier country cloaked in anecdote and folklore. An area populated with outsiders, misfits, solitary hermits and outcasts moving to escape the delicate sensibilities of urban life. For southern urban populations, politics in the Cape is defined through an amalgam of the cattle industry, mining leases, ecological and conservation issues and colourful political figures.

This is, of course, a non-indigenous perspective. For Aboriginal people of the region the landscapes have always provided the inspiration, richness and diversity for cultural practice to evolve. While displacement of people and communities, along with assimilation policies have taken their toll on the Cape York communities, a resilient and determined attitude towards revival and maintenance of culture has always emerged from the Aboriginal people. There is evidence of communities being empowered to advance their culture in a manner that respects the past and provides opportunities for the children and youth to become involved. The move towards self-determination can be seen in the works of artists like Samantha Hobson and Vernon Ah Kee.

Isolated in a pocket in Queensland’s Cape York in an area, now known as the Western Cape, Weipa sits pivotally between the mangroves and masses of open cut mining in an area as wild and untamed as it is culturally thriving because of the beautiful contemporary works of the artist sisters, Daphne Dejersey and Margaret Mara. The artists each have their individual styles displaying their subtle new freedom of expression that is contemporary and unrestricted. Distant, untapped and vibrant are terms that reflect the emerging nature of contemporary art and craft produced in the Weipa Region. The world renowned Indigenous potter, Thancoupie, uses clay to convey the ancestral narratives of her Thanaquith  people, was born in  Weipa.  She has developed a vehicle for personal artistic expression in her ceramics. The Western Cape Arts Hub, through its partnership organisations, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Western Cape College and Tropical North Qld TAFE and the local communities are all assisting in seeking to establish and secure the future of the contemporary Indigenous arts industry in this area.

There are many beautiful works of Margaret Mara, a mother of eight and a grandmother to four, in this exhibition. She is an inspiration, as she has the vision, and stamina to carry her passion forward into the wider public domain. Margaret works consistently with innovation and creativity to develop styles which meld the past, present and possible future in paintings which speak with such striking effect in the universal language of the visual medium.

(story place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest. QAG. 2003)