Jack Wilkie-Jans

Jack Wilkie-Jans is an Indigenous affairs advocate (and qualified Politologist), Indigenous arts worker, arts writer, and emerging multimedia artist (abstract painter, filmmaker, and photographer). Born in Gimuy/Cairns, he hails from Weipa and Mapoon (Teppathiggi and Tjungundji), Cape York Peninsula; and, has ancestral links to England and Scotland (Wilkie), Vanuatu (Ling), Denmark (Jans), and the Gulf of Carpentaria (Waanji).

Jack Wilkie-Jans's Latest Articles

First Nations. Image is three coloured hands picking at a multicoloured sphere
Opinions & Analysis

Calls for a major First Nations arts body

There must be serious efforts to convene a major First Nations arts body so that we are all held to…

The future of the sector relies on navigating existing challenges. Image: Shutterstock.
Opinions & Analysis

The state of Indigenous art organisations in Gimuy/Cairns

The Indigenous art sector is facing a number of challenges, especially when skills development and skilled Indigenous personnel are at…

Colonial. Photo: Jill Burrow via Pexels. Green ink dropped into a clear glass of water.
Opinions & Analysis

On nature painting and colonial narratives

The opportunities for cross-cultural responses to Country are still awkward spaces for artists and galleries to venture into.

Mob Image: Shutterstock. Illustration of two black side profiles against a green background. One figure has its eyes covered and another has its mouth covered.
Opinions & Analysis

Are you an imposter?

Mob are allowed to ask respectful questions about where you come from and who your people are. This is so…

Melanie Hava. Image is a long painting stretching round three black walls. Painting is of colourful tropical Far North Queensland rainforest.
StarsStarsStarsStarsStars

Exhibition review: Melanie Hava: Bugan Mungan, Cairns Art Gallery

A must-see nine-metre long painting by one of Tropical North Queensland’s celebrated artists.

StarsStarsStarsStarsStars

Exhibition review: Heather Wunjarra Koowootha, Cairns Art Gallery

Moving away from her hallmark lithographs to the flora of her Peoples and Country, Koowootha's new series is a must-see.

StarsStarsStarsStarsStars

Exhibition review: Pantini Kalijarrala Ngatiki, Wapami Kalijarra Wirliyala, Suzanne O’Connell Gallery

Warlpiri sisters Julie Nangala Robertson and Sabrina Nangala Robertson celebrate Country, Culture and heritage with transportive works.

Features

The "helping" hand of allyship: Indigenous art, authenticity and politics

A look at the fraught disparity between non-Indigenous arts workers and the Cultural obligations of their Indigenous counterparts, as well…

A sandstone boulder tilts dangerously on the top of the hill. In the background is the sky and a earthy, barren landscape.
Opinions & Analysis

Indigenous art centres at the precipice of outdated approaches to funding

We love Indigenous art centres but are we really supporting them the best we can as a sector?