arts

Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation and Indigenous Fashion Projects heads to Japan

Phoebe Blogg Published March 21, 2025 at 5.00am (AWST)

IFP at Country to Couture. (Image: Indigenous Fashion Projects)

Indigenous Fashion Projects has announced that they are heading to Osaka, Japan in May to participate in Expo 2025.

Expo 2025 Osaka, an international event held every five years, was created with the aim of bringing together people and innovations from around the world in an effort to address issues facing humankind on a global scale.

In 2025, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation (DAAF Foundation) is partnering with the Office for the Arts and the Australia Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka to present Indigenous Australian Fashion activations.

An Indigenous Fashion Projects delegation of First Nations designers and models will also collaborate to present a series of events that celebrate and showcase the Australian Indigenous fashion sector.

Indigenous Fashion Projects has been invited to deliver activations including a First Nations fashion industry-focused panel session, Q&A and networking event attended by fashion industry stakeholders from Australia, Japan and the Indo-Pacific region and a First Nations fashion show open to the public.

*Executive director at DAAF Claire Summers. (Image: supplied)*

*Rhonda Sharpe, courtesy of Yarrenyty Arltere. (Image: supplied)*

DAAF executive director Claire Summers shared her excitement surrounding DAAF Foundation and IFP's invitation to participate in Expo 2025.

"The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF) Foundation recognises the importance of elevating the voices of our First Nations creatives in international spaces. Our stories, histories and cultures need to be shared globally, and we want to encourage international audiences to learn about, and engage with Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, design and cultures," she said.

"When our Indigenous Fashion Projects program was invited by the Federal Government's Office for the Arts to bring a delegation of First Nations fashion creatives to Expo 2025 Osaka, we saw this as an incredible opportunity to engage with international audiences.

"In response to Expo 2025 Osaka's focus on sustainability, and the Australian pavilion's "Chasing the Sun" theme, Indigenous Fashion Projects will deliver a series of activations including a runway show, panel discussion and networking events to generate awareness and interest in the links between cultural expression and trade opportunities. We will also use this opportunity for a cultural exchange between Australian and Japanese First Nations creatives."

Japan's Expo Association anticipates more than 28 million visitors to Expo 2025, and roughly 15,000 guests per day.

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