More than 80 Indigenous artists will showcase their work on the Gold Coast over the next 11 days, marking the city's first festival since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the first rays of light hit Burleigh Beach, Bundjalung man Luther Cora welcomed Bleach Festival attendees to country with a smoking ceremony and performance with the Yugambeh Dancers.
Mr Cora said he has danced all his life.
"Wherever I could learn I would learn," he said.
"I started to learn up in North Queensland and came down to the Gold Coast to learn from people from Stradbroke Island, local family, uncle and aunties and grandparents."
'We teach culture'
Mr Cora said his dance troupe was "all family" and that the Yugambeh Dancers' routines involved more than simply learning the movements.
"Culture is about learning respect," he said.
"A lot of people want to come to us to learn dance, but you have to learn culture, history and protocols — there's a lot to it.
"It's more important for us to pass onto the next generation — we're willing to take in other people as well, but it's not that we're teaching dance, it's just what we do.
"We don't teach dance, we teach culture."
The troupe will perform three times a day during the festival's run.
Mr Cora said the family was "used to it", having worked 364 days of the year at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary before the pandemic hit.
"Being here, performing, showing people that we’re still here sharing culture and passing it on — it's a continuous culture and we have the next generation coming up and learning," he said.
"I love culture, I love learning about my history and culture and Australian culture."
'Art is part of us'
Lisa Sorbie Martin is a Torres Strait Islander and saltwater woman who designed the "Sky Weave" installation at Burleigh — the largest collaborative installation by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in South East Queensland.
Ms Martin said 12 First Nations women came together over 10 weeks to tell stories of their homes.
"We were given a brief to create a work that represents sunrise, sunset — anything about the heavens, the stars, milky way and the constellations," she said.
"For the ladies who hand wove with natural materials and crocheting, it all speaks of the traditional woven work passed down over generations.
"Our youngest weaver, Lola, is eight and the weaving she did is from the Quandamooka people, South Stradbroke Island, and that is a traditional weave from that island.
"The large circle is 'Big Mumma', the medium circle is 'Sister' and the small circle is 'Bubba.'"
Ms Martin said said art came naturally to First Nations people, whether traditional or contemporary.
"Art is not a separate thing for Indigenous people," she said.
"Art is part of us — we live it and breathe it every day, whether it's weaving something or painting.
"My grandkids come into my home studio and get the paint brushes out and do something so modern and abstract and I get that printed and put it on my wall.
"It's very important, it's part of our culture that we teach our young ones."
