The Children’s Art Centre has worked with artist Mandy Quadrio on a new 'Art Box for Kids' project. Quadrio’s hands-on activity, Paper Treasure Carrier, invites children to create their own unique carrier out of paper to hold their special objects and treasures, inspired by a display of carriers from Tasmanian bull kelp made by the artist.

Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier

Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier / View full image

Quadrio works across sculpture, installation and mixed media, creating artworks that draw on her Lutruwita (Tasmanian) heritage. Quadrio hopes that children participating in the activity will take away a greater understanding of the artists culture, adding that 'by making their own paper carrier, they are participating in a long-time Palawa cultural practice [the traditions, languages, and beliefs of Aboriginal Tasmanians], and I’m really happy to be able to share this'.

Watch | Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier

Quadrio’s ancestors come from Tebrakunna, in the north-east of Tasmania; and Little Swanport, on the island’s east coast. The materials she uses are symbolically significant: they include abrasive steel wool (a familiar cleaning material) as a metaphor for the attempted erasure and 'scrubbing out' of Indigenous culture and histories; as well as Tasmanian bull kelp, through which the artist pays homage to the continuing presence and resilience of her people. She has said:

The bull kelp and the steel wool work together in telling both sides of the story of Australian colonisation... Quite often people talk about Tasmanian Aboriginal people as being extinct... I use this story to say, ‘No, we’re still here’.[1]

Tasmanian bull kelp is a robust and adaptive material that has been used by Quadrio’s people for thousands of years to create water carriers and other objects, including shoes, vessels, domestic coverings as well as being eaten as a food source. When using the material, Quadrio says, ‘it connects me to the old people and I feel like I’m walking in their footsteps’.

Tasmanian bull kelp carrier made by Mandy Quadrio

Tasmanian bull kelp carrier made by Mandy Quadrio / View full image

Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier

Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier / View full image

Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier

Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier / View full image

Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier

Mandy Quadrio invites children to create their own unique paper carrier / View full image

Jacqueline Tunny is Program Coordinator, Children’s Art Centre, QAGOMA
This text is adapted from an essay first published in QAGOMA’s Members’ magazine, Artlines

Art Box for Kids: Mandy Quadrio
31 May – 26 October 2025
Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)
Brisbane, Australia
Free entry

Opening hours for this project differ from GOMA opening hours, check the website for details.

Endnotes

  1. ^ Mandy Quadrio, in an interview for the ‘Art Box for Kids’ introduction video, recorded 30 January 2025.

Related Stories

  • Read

    Kids & Families/ Create a shell necklace

    Ngugi artist Elisa Jane Carmichael draws inspiration from her Quandamooka Country, Mulgumpin (Moreton Island) and Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) for her ‘Art Box for Kids‘ project at the Children’s Art Centre, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) from 13 July – 27 October 2024. Children are invited to create their own unique shell necklace, inspired by the beautiful eugarie shells (pipis) that can be found on the shores of Minjerribah. We filmed Carmichael on Minjerribah to create a video in which she introduces herself, her Country and her art practice, and includes a step-by-step guide for the making activity ‘shell adornments’. Watch | A step-by-step guide for the making activity Carmichael has had a love of shells since childhood and often incorporates them into her own artworks. She collected the shells children can use for tracing as part of the activity, and these shells will be returned to the artist at the end of the project. She has said: As a saltwater woman, shells are really an extension of who we are as Quandamooka people, but all First Nations people who are from saltwater country or freshwater country have shells which were used as food sources [or] worn on the body for spiritual connections and ceremonial practices. On display as part of ‘Art Box for Kids: Elisa Jane Carmichael’, are two paper shell necklaces that Carmichael has made, including one in collaboration with her own child, using the same materials that children will use in the space. These necklaces are displayed alongside her four-strand necklace Adornment of Power 02 2021 (illustrated). This delicate artwork combines shells, reed segments and fish scales from Quandamooka Country with silk-wrapped wire, woven into baskets using weaving techniques taught to her by her mother, fellow Ngugi artist Sonja Carmichael. Elisa Carmichael has said ‘I like to make neck adornments, because, to me, I see them as a way of carrying our Country, and our stories from Country’. She hopes that the activity will inspire children to look around them and see what elements they can use to create with from nature, and be creative in telling their own stories by wearing them. Adornment of Power 02 2021 Laura Mudge is Senior Program Officer, Children’s Art Centre, QAGOMA. Art Box for Kids: Elisa Jane Carmichael 13 July – 27 October 2024 Gallery 1.4, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) ‘Art Box for Kids’ is an exhibition series that prioritises sustainable design and the use of recycled or repurposed activity materials where possible, presented in Gallery 1.4 of the Children’s Art Centre at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). Each edition of the program will invite children to meet an artist through an introduction video, see an example of their work on display, and explore their creativity through hands-on making. Based on key principles of the Children’s Art Centre, ‘Art Box for Kids’ aims to provide opportunities for children to engage with contemporary ideas and cultures, gain insights into the processes of making art, and facilitates intergenerational connection through hands-on audience participation. ‘Art Box for Kids’ will primarily feature local and Queensland-based artists. ‘Art Box for Kids: Elisa Jane Carmichael’ is supported by Brisbane Airport
  • Read

    Kids & Families/ Have fun with our animal art trail at QAG & GOMA!

    Ignite a child's natural curiosity when you visit. Discover a wonderful menagerie of animals, some easy to spot; others waiting to be found. Did you know there's a shark living in the art gallery? Find our playful pigs, go bird watching, or keep an eye out for a pack of polar bears! From the earliest paintings to today's contemporary works, animals have featured in art. Go on a self-guided animal art trail with us at the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) and Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). Both our buildings are nestled beside the Brisbane River and are just a short stroll from each other, we're also close to South Bank Parklands to extend your day even further. ANOTHER SELF-GUIDED ANIMAL ART TRAIL: Great and Small: Kindred Creatures in Indigenous Australian Art Watch out for the shark! Start your self-guided animal art trail In this selection of animals — from the two-legged, the four-legged, to the many legged kind — you'll find QAGOMA has them all in painting, sculpture, jewellery, and decorative objects. How many more can you find? Queensland Art Gallery Find two mice who love art Roy and Matilda are two mice who love art galleries. When visiting one day, they set about making a cosy home. A man who worked in the Galley restoring and carving frames found they were living here and decided to make them a special monogrammed front door. See if the're home when you visit. Location: Gallery 11. Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries, Queensland Art Gallery Fifteen dancing brolgas... can you count them all? Brolgas are known for their intricate dance and trumpeting sound. This painting shows people and birds united by music. Nearby: Find the Australian Kelpie and the shark. Location: Gallery 11. Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries, Queensland Art Gallery Find the restful Australian Kelpie Locate our celestial shark Spot our white dove Birds regularly appear in paintings. As a child this artist was a frequent visitor to Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo and developed a lifelong love of animals and the natural world. Location: Gallery 12. Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries, Queensland Art Gallery Can you locate all the camel pieces? This work is playful and witty, the segmented 'Jumble Animals' take inspiration from the back of Kellogg’s breakfast cereal boxes which were designed to be cut out and reassembled by children, like a jigsaw. In this version, it's a little harder as you have to piece it together in your mind. Location: Gallery 13. Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries, Queensland Art Gallery Pick out the four goannas This painting is from one of the traditional Indigenous Australian dreaming stories, and this work shows four goanna's moving towards a waterhole. The work has a strong sense of symmetry, one half is a mirror image of the other. Location: Gallery 13. Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries, Queensland Art Gallery Go bird watching Head back down the Gallery on the way to the International Art Collection and find all the native animals carved into the sideboard, then drop by our Red-tailed Black Cockatoos. Location: Gallery 10. Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries, Queensland Art Gallery Search for all the birds, we count 10 This screen of birds depicts change by including all four seasons within a singular landscape — from a snowy winter scene to the blooms of spring. How many birds can you find? Nearby: Find a little green caterpiller Location: Gallery 7. International Art Collection, Philip Bacon Galleries, Queensland Art Gallery Track down the green caterpillar Watch out for the flying dragonfly The shapes and rhythms of nature inspired the style Art Nouveau. Find our collection of glass vases featuring delicately frosted animal and insects; and jewellery that take the form of a dragonfly brooch, and a comb featuring a ladybird sitting on a leaf. Location: Gallery 7. International Art Collection, Philip Bacon Galleries, Queensland Art Gallery. Find the lucky ladybird beetle Discover four pigs relaxing at home This is definitely one of the cutest little homes you will see, substituting animals for people, with one relaxing on a couch, the others playing ball in the backyard swimming pool. Look closely at all the details from the heart shaped cushions to the white swan, green frog, and garden gnome. Nearby: Check out the housebound tortoise who appears to carry the weight of the world on his back; the sleeping baby being cared for by a tree full of animals; and the squad of ten pink roaming polar bears. Location: Pelican Lounge. Queensland Art Gallery Find our housebound tortoise How many animals can you see in the tree? Discover our squad of pink polar bears Visit our local water dragons The Gallery’s Watermall extends far beyond the Gallery’s interior, past the Dandelion fountains through to the reflection pond and Sculpture Courtyard. Visit the adjoining QAG Cafe and keep an eye out for our resident water dragons, Australia’s largest dragon lizard. Native to eastern Australia, they have a life span of around 20 years, though they can grow up to a metre in length, thankfully our contented residents aren’t that big. They are especially adapted to an aquatic life, and if you’re lucky you can watch them dive into the pond from the overhanging Tipuana tree and swim off using their powerful long tail. Location: QAG Cafe. Watermall, Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art Hermannsburg Pottery In the sweeping plains and red-hued rolling ranges of the Central Desert in Northern Territory lies Ntaria (Hermannsburg). Here, a dedicated group of artists have pioneered pottery that has a distinctive style of hand-coiled clay vessels, often adorned with animals and matching...
Loading...