Daniel Boyd was born in Cairns in 1982 and is recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative and exciting young contemporary artists.
Bitter Sweet brings together major works that trace the hidden history of slavery in Far North Queensland that resulted in 60,000 South Sea Islander people being taken to work in sugarcane plantations from the mid-1800s and early-1900s.
The exhibition examines narratives of the Pacific Islands as a ‘paradise’, and the life of Pacific Islanders in relation to slavery and the sugar cane industry, and the effect on descendants’ lives in Far North Queensland, including those of Boyd’s own ancestors.
The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.