IT’S not every day that a smoking ceremony set off the fire alarm, but so it was today (May 31) at Gorman Arts Centre in Braddon when Ngunnawal Elder, Tina Brown, set about welcoming New Zealand exchange artist Ana Iti, to the ACT.

Iti, a Te Rarawa installation artist trained in Christchurch and Wellington, will be here for six weeks, living at the heritage arts centre as part of the indigenous arts exchange negotiated by the ACT government with the Wellington City Council.

Members of the ACT visual arts community were on hand to welcome her and also the curator from Te Papa Museum in Wellington, Megan Tamati-Quennell.

Tamati-Quennell, a member of the advisory committee to Wellington City Council on the Canberra-Wellington Indigenous Artist Exchange, said that from what she could see, the pilot project was “a success already”, with Canberra indigenous artist Dean Cross doing “wonderfully well” in his part of the exchange in New Zealand.

Arts Minister Gordon Ramsay described the international engagement as “vital in meeting the policy directions of ArtsACT”. He said the agreement with Wellington as sister city to Canberra had been established in 2016 and predicted more “exciting” things would soon happen.

Caroline Ralph, first secretary to the New Zealand High Commission in Canberra, reminded those present that 2019 was the International Year of Indigenous Languages, in which she perceived an opportunity for reconciliation.

Gorman Arts Centre House resident, instrument-maker Hugh Withycombe, said he was particularly pleased to be a part to be present at the welcome, having been born in Wellington, even though he had but moved to Canberra aged four.

He was joined by Rochelle Whyte, creative producer at Gorman at Centre, who spoke of the value of cultural exchange.