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Thread was a collaboration between the National
Portrait Gallery, Logan Art Gallery,

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members of the local community here
in Logan and a select group

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of artists and creatives that also
work in Logan and nationally.

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I'm Kyra Manktelow, I'm a Quandamooka woman
from Minjerribah and Moorgumpin

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and I have links to Eulo and South
Sea Islander Vanuatu.

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I came in on the pilot project as an artist
and through that I'm able to develop

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a work based on the NPG collection and also community
consultation and how that's driving my practice.

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Talofa lava, my name is Sualauvi Ah Kuoi.

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And my name is Lanatina Ah Kuoi.

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We initially got involved because Ruha
Fifita reached out to us as artists

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within the Logan community to apply cultural
wear and photography and our perspectives.

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My name is Pamela and I have a Chinese name Xue Mei-Ling
and the aesthetic that I use in my practice,

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is very close to Fujian paper cutting,

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which is endemic to Guangdong province
where my mother's family come from.

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My research into the immigration history of Logan

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actually has been quite extensive,

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but it really started through
the creatives meeting.

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Rather than beginning this project within
the walls of the institution,

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the ideas and the conversations are

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around this project began here in Logan,
40 kilometres south of Brisbane.

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Logan Art Gallery is located in central Logan.

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It's just to the south-west
of Brisbane City Council.

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Its population is over 400,000 and there's over
230 different cultures living in the region.

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The NPG pilot project

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is so incredibly important to this
community in many ways,

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but in particular its emphasis on community-driven
voices and storytelling.

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One of the National Portrait Gallery's
remits is to share the collection.

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And often, through touring exhibitions,
the stories start at the Gallery.

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This exhibition gives us the opportunity
to begin the exhibition

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the exhibition process through community,
through these conversations,

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centring it on the people and place of Logan.

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The institution has a lot of power and potential
in channelling people in different directions,

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but I guess their role can be one of really
promoting this posture of learning

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within different local communities and
then linking them together as well.

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So a critical part of this project were the many
conversations that happened with local

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creatives and communities and they were
really seen to be almost part of one

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ongoing conversation that was connected through documentation
and each conversation built on those prior

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to help inform the kind of scope
and outcomes of the project.

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The idea was to create a series
of local creative exchanges in

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which many creative community members were
invited to participate in workshops that

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that were conversationaly-based, but to evolve
ideas and thoughts and proposals

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about how each of us, an institution,
as well as individuals, can

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contribute to the depth and growth
of culture in the region.

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I think a project like Thread is important for
this community and also any local community

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because it's, yeah, it's opportunity for people
from diverse backgrounds to come together

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and explore themes that they think
are significant for them both as

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a segment of the community but also
collectively as a whole.

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So in this way we see a really broad
variety and alongside that a

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lot of space for reflection collectively with stakeholders
and thinking about how the creative

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outcomes of the exhibition itself can really
evolve based on what's been shared.

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It's hard to explain how each workshop or each community
yarn we went to, we had to kind of change

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the direction of the whole project.

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I don't think we had any expectation to, you
know, even focus on Indigenous stories.

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But I think, yeah, after the first workshop in hearing
the community, having, you know, their voice saying,

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Logan's so multicultural, but they wanted
Indigenous stories to be heard.

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I mean, I think it's also really encouraging that a
cultural institution at that level is doing this,

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and it shows you the power of when
institutions or people,

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serving these important roles do take that truly like
wanting to learn and wanting to empower those that

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maybe don't, you know, traditionally don't have that opportunity
or the power to express themselves at that level.

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I'm really hoping that people value the cultural diversity
of the region on a whole different level.

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It just feels like we're being
heard in the national forum.

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We're just as important as other
metropolitan centres.

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You know, it's such a different process for
me and usually I just work with mob and,

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you know, talking to people that are not, that are non-Indigenous,
it's such a different perspective.

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And I feel like it's empowering for them to just sit and listen
and understand and get their perspective on things.

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And it's such a beautiful way of creating work now and
getting their input and see how they view my work.

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There's some brief, but it's all great.

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But it's all quite directed by our conversations.

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And they've given us time and space to build
our relationships first as artists.

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I feel like it's all fallen into place.

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I feel like after yarns and looking at the
collection and looking at, you know,

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even my lino work, I think it evolved
into making the possum skin cloak

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that really tied in, you know, my work and Lana and
Sualauvi's work and a lot of works together.

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a lot of works together.

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Creating a whole cloak for the first time.

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It's exciting, and then especially
seeing it comes to life

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and have Aunty Faith wear the cloak
during the photo shoot tomorrow.

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Yeah, it'll be beautiful, it's exciting.

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Once we heard the story from Kyra
about the possum skin cloak,

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we were immediately drawn in the connections
that different cultures have

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when it comes to body adornment, when it comes
to cultural attire and the richness

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within those stories.

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The ultimate goal is that when our
community then sees themself,

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that it does open up more conversation for us
to be able to do some things together.

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It's not just about us trying to put works up
there to exhibit here in our community,

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it's actually about uplifting those that
have a meaningful story to tell

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and the story that we want to also support.

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They're not just us as artists, but also that
will also be an audience to the exhibit

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when it then goes to Canberra, how then they

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can also think about, oh, this
is a whole new process.

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Let's, you know, maybe let's see how
we can do this in our community,

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or let's see how we can do this in
a different part of Australia

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and see what comes up out of that.

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The consultations really gave us this opportunity
to connect with a community

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to hear about their needs as
artists and creatives,

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but also what they wanted to see realized
through a project like this,

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how communities

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hope to see stories told and the different ways
that stories can be unpacked and shared

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and held for community.