By Teagan Rowe
From August 14 to October 25, the QUT Art Museum is showing the Gulbuuygu exhibition. Gulbuuygu, meaning ‘together’, represents the coming together of QUT student fashion designers and Indigenous artists, to create incredible wearable pieces of art for the runway. In the first room of the exhibition, you are met with an array of canvas paintings, of spectacular colour and vibrancy. All of which represent beautiful Australian landscapes with exaggerated colours accompanied by neutral based flora wallpaper.
The first room leads seamlessly into the next, with native Australian themes carrying over onto stunningly designed garments and rolls of fabric; each mannequin unique in texture, colour, and dimension.
Our favourite of the room was the Magaar (Fish trap) print Eucalyptus fairy dress by Wanda Gibson and Lilli Macnevin. The piece was a blue and white floor length dress with long draping layers and beautiful flowing movement.
While the first room features a white wall, which accentuated each design to the audience, the second room is quite the opposite. The overwhelming contrast of style and texture bounds off the display, filling the whole room in a floral, fashionable haze. Each garment becomes increasingly more complex, transcending in layer and silhouette.
Our standout piece was the Yulnga (Seed pods) print dress by Grace Rosendale and Joash Teo. The garment was a one shoulder bubble-esque mini dress with a black and dark green seedpod design.
While the exhibition is not participatory art; when walking by each garment you can imagine the way it moves on the body and how each fabric feels.
The last room, while completely unexpected, was incredibly moving, as the whole space was transformed into a beautiful coastal artwork.
It included four differently designed white tulle dresses with blue coastal native artworks projected onto the garments. The projections danced throughout the room, over each dress and onto the walls.
This room was completely immersive, lulling you into hypnosis the longer you remained.
The collaboration between Indigenous and QUT student designers showcased the seamless transition of what Brisbane and Australian fashion is aspiring to become. It’s the celebration of culture and Australian identity tangled in incredible creative ability.
I personally felt truly inspired by these pieces and honoured to be a part of the Australian culture these designers so adequately represented.
