From Taiwan to Tropical North Queensland: CIAF Fashion Curator explores Indigenous textile traditions and contemporary fashion ahead of international exchange at CIAF 2026

CIAF Fashion Curator Lynelle Flinders has returned from Taiwan with fresh inspiration, international connections, and new perspectives on Indigenous fashion ahead of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair's 17th-anniversary season next month.

Ms Flinders spent a week last month immersed in Taiwan's Indigenous fashion and textile communities as part of the first-ever Asia-Pacific cultural exchange organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The relationships forged through the exchange will continue next month when CIAF welcomes three Taiwanese Indigenous designers and a guest designer from Indigenous Fashion Week New York to Cairns for the largest fashion program in the event's history.

During the week-long visit, Ms Flinders met with Taiwanese Indigenous artists, curators, academics, museum representatives and fashion industry professionals in Taipei, Taitung and Hualien, exploring contemporary Indigenous fashion practice, textile traditions and cultural storytelling.

Highlights included visits to the National Museum of Prehistory’s contemporary Indigenous fashion exhibition, workshops and cross-cultural sharing with Indigenous weavers and fibre artists, and discussions with fashion and textile academics from Fu Jen Catholic University and other cultural institutions.

“This exchange has been incredibly inspiring in terms of seeing how Indigenous artists in Taiwan are carrying culture through textiles, weaving, fashion and intergenerational knowledge sharing,” Ms Flinders said.

“There are many shared values around storytelling, connection to Country, identity and cultural continuity that strongly resonate with First Nations fashion practice in Australia.”

CIAF 2026 highly anticipated fashion performances will feature collections by Taiwanese designers Juan Chih Chun / ‘alapiyac Parucunuq, Sigesile Kalidoai and Yuma Taru alongside Queensland First Nations designers and guest designers from Indigenous Fashion Week New York.

The international exchange will continue during CIAF through two public Masterclasses presented at Botanical Garden Visitors Centre near Tanks Arts Centre on Saturday, 11 July:

• Needlework of the Ancestors / Paiwan Designs for Today with Sigesile Kalidoai from 10.30 am–1 pm
• Paiwan Bead Embroidery with Juan Chih Chun / ‘alapiyac Parucunuq from 2 pm–4.30 pm

The Paiwan people are one of Taiwan’s Indigenous First Nations groups, renowned for intricate textile and adornment traditions that continue to influence contemporary fashion and design.

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