With its 2025 theme, 'Pay Attention!', the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) is turning the spotlight on critical voices and bold expressions—none more potent than that of contemporary artist Darren Blackman, whose new solo exhibition 'Post Truth', presented by Onespace Gallery, will challenge and engage audiences in equal measure.
Darren Blackman has been making a bold and unmissable statement at CIAF since 2022. A proud Gureng Gureng/Gangalu man with Kanak South Sea Islander heritage from Vanuatu, he grew up in Nambour and has lived and worked across Far North and Western Queensland since 1995, emerging as a vital voice in contemporary Australian art.
Following his 2023 CIAF Art Award win in the Innovation category and inclusion in key exhibitions, including We Are Still Here at Parliament House and Say Our Name at Queensland Museum, Blackman’s newest body of work will be showcased at CIAF from 10 to 13 July 2025.
Exhibited by Onespace Gallery (Brisbane), Post Truth is Blackman’s second major solo with the gallery and his most urgent and ambitious yet—featuring a series of neon-based works exploring systemic inequality and the lived experiences of Aboriginal peoples in so-called Australia.
CIAF Artistic Director, Teho Ropeyarn, said Darren Blackman exemplifies the spirit of this year’s theme.
“Pay Attention! is a call to see, listen, and act. Darren’s work compels us to reckon with inherited injustice and examine how political intent and truth-telling intersect in daily life. His exhibition is not only a feature of CIAF 2025, but a seminal inclusion that mirrors the curatorial direction and provokes the kind of critical engagement this year’s theme demands,” Mr Ropeyarn said.
Esteemed First Nations curator and leader of CIAF’s Collectors Program, Bruce Johnson McLean writes, “While some may see Blackman’s political works as an attack on White Australia, in reality, they are a call for peace, self-reflection, mutual respect, and understanding... Blackman brings these poignant issues to light not to denigrate, but in the hope that it will ultimately make us all pay attention and take action.”
For collectors, curators, and cultural leaders engaging with the urgency of this year’s theme, Post Truth offers a compelling entry point. Those seeking deeper insight and connection are encouraged to register for CIAF’s Collectors Program (registrations close Monday 23 June), hosted by McLean himself, to explore the layered narratives, artistic innovations, and cultural knowledge that shape Queensland’s First Nations art movement.
The artist’s recent graduation from Griffith University’s Contemporary Indigenous Art program marks a new chapter in a practice rooted in lived experience, community memory, and cultural resilience. Blackman’s works have recently been acquired by major institutions including Queensland Museum, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, State Library of Queensland, and the Queensland Children’s Hospital, alongside a growing number of international collectors.
Through Post Truth, Blackman employs text, symbolism, and oral histories passed down by his Elders to highlight the challenges of self-determination, the limitations of policy, and the resilience of identity. Referencing the Australian Government’s Close the Gap campaign, Blackman asks, “What happens when the truth is not enough?”.
Following its CIAF debut, Post Truth will tour to Onespace Gallery in Brisbane from July 25 to August 23 2025.
Registrations for the CIAF On Country (VIP Program), hosted by esteemed artist Tony Albert, and the CIAF Collectors Program, hosted by leading First Nations curator, Bruce Johnson McLean close on Monday 23 June 2025.
Images: Darren Blackman, 2025. Courtesy of Embellysh Photography and Redcliffe Art Gallery. 2. Darren Blackman, Truth Hurts, 2025, Led Neon Sculpture, 65 x 100cm. Image: Louis Lim. Courtesy of the artist and Onespace.