Woven Together: Undivided We Rise is a powerful celebration of resilience, community, and cultural continuity. Curated by Gangulu woman Sabrina-Rose Toby, this exhibition honours the trust of the seven exhibiting artists, who share their stories through the transformative practice of weaving. Bringing together individual weavings alongside a collaborative woven installation, each fibre is a vessel of memory, healing, and strength.

Exhibiting artist and Elder Aunty Rosalind Sailor said that the works echo women’s traditions like those from her Yalanji cultural practice, “carrying burdens in their baskets until they are taken upstream and renewed by cleansing in the water.” Through collaborative spirit and deep cultural knowledge, these works weave together past and present, pain and hope.

Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts proudly presents this exhibition in partnership with NAFA, supporting the voices of the curator and artists. This collectively offers a space where legacy, connection, and future vision are intricately interlaced.

Woven Together: Undivided We Rise is commissioned by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts in partnership with the North Australian Festival of Arts (NAFA). Umbrella and NAFA are thankful for the support of Vivien Anderson Gallery representing Clare Jaque Vasquez, Kim Ah Sam and Erica Muriata, and Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre also representing Erica Muriata. 

Exhibitions launch
6pm Friday 19 September 2025
Speeches from approx. 6:30pm. 

Aunty Rosalind Sailor is a Kuku Yalanji and Waanyi woman. She has a background in Cultural arts and managing events, workshops, administration and performances. Aunty Ros has worked in the Gurambilbarra / Townsville community for over 30 years in community, arts and Culture as an artist, Cultural advisor, and advocate for First Nations art, theatre and performance. 
Aunty Ros is a member of Professional Arts North Queensland (PANQ) and Townsville City Council’s Arts & Culture Advisory Committee (ACAC). She is also a member of the Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural (TATSIC) Reference Group for The Museum of Tropical Queensland. 

Clare Jaque Vasquez is an Aboriginal artist from Gomeroi/Kamilaroi Nation. Clare grew up in an urban environment in her younger years, and then on her grandmother’s Country in northwest New South Wales in a small country town near the mission and station where her family lived. Clare now works from a studio based on Bindal & Wulgurukaba Country in North QLD. 
In 2022 Clare was the Australian and New Zealand winner of the M&C Saatchi Group and Saatchi Gallery (London) ‘Art for Change’ award. In 2023 her work was selected as a finalist in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAAs), and she won the Queensland Regional Art Award (First Nations Award). Clare was recently a finalist in the Koori Mail Indigenous Art Award at Lismore Regional Gallery. Clare's work is held in both private and public collections around Australia, including Wesfarmers, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and a commemorative acquisition for the new Chancellor at James Cook University in Gurambilbarra / Townsville. 

Erica Muriata (b. 1994) is a proud Girramay woman from the Jumbun Aboriginal Community, located in the Murray Upper region, north-west of Cardwell, Queensland. As an emerging artist, Erica’s work is deeply rooted in her Cultural heritage, drawing inspiration from the landscape, traditions, and stories of her ancestors. Her work reflects a strong connection to the Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre, where she continues to honor and celebrate her community’s artistic practices. Erica also continues a rich legacy of storytelling and artistic expression from her parents; her father Jack Muriata, a respected Elder and community leader, and her mother Lillian Muriata, an accomplished painter. 
Erica’s artistic practice spans multiple mediums, including painting, ceramics, and weaving. Her work across landscape paintings, Bagu sculptures and exquisitely woven Jawun - traditional baskets of the rainforest people - expresses her connection to her Culture and the land as a vehicle for preserving and passing on the stories of her ancestors. Erica’s work has been included in a number of curated exhibitions, including (re)connection: Culture, Country & People, the first exhibition at the newly refurbished Mulgrave Gallery in Gimuy / Cairns, The Womens Show at Vivien Anderson Gallery (both 2024), and multiple projects and exhibitions at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair. Erica also received a Special Commendation award for her inclusion in the 2024 Woolahra Gallery Small Sculpture Prize.

Jaeda Lenoy is a proud Indigenous woman of Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr, Birriah, Juru, Ngaro, South Sea Islander and M?ori descent. As a contemporary mixed-media artist and weaver, her practice is deeply rooted in the stories, landscapes, and Cultural knowledge passed down through her diverse ancestral lines. Jaeda’s work invites quiet reflection and a deeper listening to the wisdom held in land, spirit, and community. She carries Culture forward with strength, pride, and creativity, honouring her Elders and communities while creating space for new stories to emerge. 
Working primarily with ink and watercolour on paper, Jaeda uses abstraction to express the spiritual and Cultural connections that flow through Country, memory, and identity. Each line and mark becomes a visual thread which carries stories that are felt more than spoken. Weaving also plays a central role in Jaeda’s artistic and Cultural practice - not just as a craft, but as a symbol of connection: between generations, across nations, and through time. The artist’s work ranges from intimate works on paper to large-scale public installations such as The Water’s Soul on the Ngaro Cultural Track. Her commissioned work spans logo design, Cultural storytelling, public art, and uniform design which is always created with respect, Cultural integrity, and intention.  

Jayme-Lee Harley is a proud Mitakoodi, Waanyi, Gangalidda and Djaru woman and artist, deeply connected to her Country, skies, waters, spirit, stories and people.?Her work is a heartfelt tribute to her Elders past and emerging, who she describes as her greatest inspiration. As a mother of five, aunty to many, and now a proud nanny, Jayme is deeply committed to nurturing her family and preserving the traditional values, stories, and history passed down through generations. 
Growing up, creativity was woven into Jayme’s everyday life, alive with Culture and expression. She learned painting, crafting, cooking and yarning, but later discovered her true passions lie in weaving, jewellery-making and painting. Jayme’s work is infused with the rich colours and patterns of Mitakoodi Country, drawing from the breathtaking sunsets, dusty plains, and fresh, vibrant landscapes that surround her. Since moving to the beautiful lands of Wulgurukaba and Bindal peoples nine years ago, Jayme’s work has also drawn on her background in youth work as she has worked closely with local youth services and schools to deliver Cultural workshops. She has also recently collaborated with the Shalom Dancers to share her skills in weaving, painting, and storytelling. Stepping more boldly into the art world, Jayme is now embracing her journey as an artist. She is guided and inspired by Culture, family, community and the strength of her ancestors. 

Kim Ah Sam is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Kalkadoon woman who was born and raised in Queensland, based in Meanjin / Brisbane. As a mature-aged woman, Kim decided to follow her dream to go to university and in 2017 she completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art. She continued to complete her Fine Art Honours at Griffith University, Queensland College of Art in 2018, majoring in printmaking. Kim’s printmaking and sculptural work is based around her Cultural and spiritual identity, consistently investigating ways to spiritually reconnecting with the people and land of her father’s Country (Kalkadoon) and her grandmother’s Country (Kuku Yalanji). Kim expresses this reconnection in diverse ways – by representing landscape, or ‘Country’, through rigorous, cross-disciplinary experimentation in a variety of media, including handmade papermaking, print and sculpture. 
Process is central to Kim’s work, and she has developed various methods of working which show how the old and the new can combine in a contemporary context.? This includes integrating traditional and European materials, and centring the symbiotic relationship between practice and theory by pulping and repurposing her university texts and research alongside personal documents. Kim’s weaving practice is entirely self-taught, embodying storytelling and knowledge-sharing through unique sculptural forms. Her work examines the landscape’s relationship with the body, and explores weaving as a therapeutic practice. It reflects a process of cultural healing and a way to address feelings of disconnection and reconnection with her Country. 

Michona Warria is a proud Kuku-Yalanji, Waanji, Kalkadoon and Torres Strait Island (Mabuiag Island) woman, artist and performer. Michona graduated from the Aboriginal Centre of Performing Arts in Meanjin / Brisbane in 2018, having appeared in their mid-year and end-of-year shows, Lovers Anonymous, Trojan Woman, Awakening and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has worked with Digital Youth Arts, performing in their production of All That Remains as a part of the Valley Fiesta 2018. In 2019, Michona was successfully selected for the Solid Ground Internship program with Belvoir Theatre, working on the production Winyanboga Yurringa. She is currently a part of Big Eye Theatre as a performer and Cultural practitioner, performing in shows such as Dungurri Nya Nya Ngarri Bi Nya (2021) and Gundil Released (2024). In 2024 she attended Woven Together hosted by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts, where she extender her knowledge and confidence through weaving. She has since had her work featured in the Art Expo presented by Big Eye Theatre.