Jack Wilkie-Jans / Artlands 2023

Jack Wilkie-Jans is an Indigenous affairs advocate, arts worker, arts writer, and emerging multimedia artist (abstract painter, filmmaker, and photographer). Born in Gimuy/Cairns, he hails from Weipa & Mapoon (Teppathiggi and Tjungundji), Cape York Peninsula; and, has ancestral links to the Gulf of Carpentaria (Waanji), Great Britain, Vanuatu, and Denmark.

Jack is recognised across the broader visual arts industry and has been acknowledged for his work: He is an Alumnus of the National Gallery of Australia's Indigenous Leadership Program and in 2013 he was nominated for the Cairns Region Australia Day Awards for the Cultural Award; in 2015 was made an inaugural Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, in 2018 he was a Baton Bearer for the Commonwealth Games relay.

Jack holds a Bachelor's Degree of Arts, majoring in Political Science and Affairs from James Cook University. Formerly the Marketing and Communications Manager of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Jack now works as a private consultant across the Indigenous art sector, in particular building the profiles of, and support for, Indigenous Art Centres of Queensland.