The Artist's Journey + Umbrella Floortalk
10-11:15am Sat 14 June
The Artist's Journey + Umbrella Floortalk
Elysha Rei
Elysha Rei installing her work (Seijaku): Serenity at Brisbane Quarter in celebration of The Asia Pacific Triennial exhibition at QAGOMA, 2025. Photograph: PixelPunk 2025, courtesy the artist.
Join Umbrella for an insightful presentation from Meanjin / Brisbane-based Nikkei Australian artist Elysha Rei in conjunction with her exhibition Shirozato to Shinju (White Sugar and Pearls).
Elysha will firstly share about her broader arts practice, including highlights and advice from her artistic journey and career. After a short intermission, the artist will then speak about her exhibition on display, and the research and connections she has made to unearth North Queensland and Japanese-Australian histories.
Saturday 14 June
10am - The Artist's Journey
10:30am - 15 minute break
10:45am - Umbrella Floortalk
11:15am - Events conclude
This program is free and bookings are not required.
Shirozato to Shinju (White Sugar and Pearls) is on display 13 June - 27 July 2025.
Elysha Rei (pronounced eh-lee-sha ray) is a Japanese-Australian artist who explores narratives of cultural identity, site-specific history and environmental elements through paper cutting and public art. She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts (2008), a Masters in Business Administration (2018) and is currently undertaking a PhD exploring how Nikkei Australian identity is archived through creative paper cutting practice. Rei has created and exhibited work, curated exhibitions and managed cultural spaces over the past two decades in Australia and internationally. She founded the international artist residency program, Sam Rit Residency in rural Thailand in 2014, and co-founded the Artist-Run-Initiative Made Creative Space Toowoomba from 2011-2013. She has been an invited artist-in-residence for the Museum of Brisbane, Artspace Mackay and Barcaldine Arts Council. In 2018 Rei was the recipient of an Asialink Arts Creative Exchange in Japan, and is an artist fellow with the Past Wrongs Future Choices global research project based in Canada.
Umbrella’s Creative Industries sessions focus on art development, artist tool-kit expansion and critical art world discussions. The Artist’s Journey is a Creative Industries series of discussions presented by artists for artists, revealing diverse pathways to success in the contemporary visual arts sector.
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10:30am Sun 22 June
In Conversation
Sylvia Ditchburn with Daniel Qualischefski
Open Hours
Tues - Fri: 9am-5pm
Sat - Sun: 9am-1pm
Gallery closed Mondays, public holidays and during exhibition install weeks.
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408 Flinders Street,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia
PO Box 2394,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia
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Acknowledgement of Country
Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region - Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal - as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.
Umbrella is a Member & Signatory of the Indigenous Art Code. This means we are committed to fair and ethical trade with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and transparency in the promotion and sale of artwork. As a Dealer Member and signatory to the Code we must act fairly, honestly, professionally and in good conscience in all direct or indirect dealings with artists.
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Acknowledgements
Umbrella is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy, and by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments. | Umbrella is supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. | Townsville City Council is a funding partner of Umbrella's program.
