General News
3 September, 2025
Talent of local Indigenous artists on display at Maltha Waru fashion show
An event showcasing the talents of local Indigenous artists will be held at Outback at Isa this Saturday night.
An event showcasing the talents of local Indigenous artists will be held at Outback at Isa on Saturday.
The Maltha Waru Arts Celebration Fashion Show will kick off at 3pm on Saturday, September 6, with community markets and food vans.
To be held in the carpark at the back of Outback at Isa (entry via Mullan Street), the fashion show itself will begin at 6pm and will feature garments adorned with artworks created by local artists including Auntie Hazel Munro, Barbara Sam, Kelly Barclay, Kohaku Ah Kit, and Doug Bruce.
There will also be a performance by the Sundowners Kalkutungu Dancers and didgeridoo player Cameron Leon, as well as live music.
Outback at Isa marketing and operations support officer Jasmine Rose Flerchinger said following the success of last year’s inaugural event, they had gone even bigger and better this year.
“This is a joint collaboration between artists around Outback North West Queensland,” Ms Flerchinger said.
“By doing this annual event, we give a nice, open community space, free of charge, for anyone who wants to be involved where we can support our local Indigenous artists.
“At last year’s event we only had the casual fashion catwalk and a concert at the very end, provided by Looking Forward Looking Back. This year, we've gone bigger and above and beyond.”
The Maltha Waru Arts Workshop Indigenous art gallery and shop within Outback at Isa will also be open throughout the day, and there will be a wearable-art exhibition upstairs in the Mount Isa Regional Art Gallery during the afternoon.
Ms Flerchinger said Indigenous artists were approached and asked to provide paintings that were then meticulously digitised, to turn them into designs that could be used to create the garments that will be showcased at the fashion show.
And all of the garments were made in Australia.
“After the event, these garments will be available for sale in our Maltha Waru Arts Workshop and a commission price will be paid to each artist. We are here to support them,” Ms Flerchinger said.
“We are also trying to get these garments out into the Visitor Information Centre network all over North West Queensland, to hopefully expand where they're being sold.
“We want to make North West Queensland the arts and fashion hub of Outback Queensland.”