Sunshine Coast Blak Excellence Awards 2026
Seven handcrafted sculptural awards created by Munimba-ja Arts Centre to honour Blak excellence across the Sunshine Coast.
Seven handcrafted Sunshine Coast Blak Excellence Awards displayed together.
In 2026, Munimba-ja Arts Centre was commissioned by The First Traders, with funding support from Sunshine Coast Council, to create seven handcrafted awards for the Sunshine Coast Blak Excellence Awards. Rather than treating the awards simply as trophies, we approached them as a connected body of sculptural work — seven individual forms linked through material, process and a shared visual language.
Seven awards. One shared visual language.
The series grew from Libby Harward’s hand-burnt necklaces and sculptural beadwork, with Libby developing the works in collaboration with Lexie Abel. The awards bring together materials including hand-burnt wooden beads, recycled glass, fired clay, pippi and oyster shells, seeds, native fibres and feather details. Each work was designed to have its own character while still belonging to the larger series — sculptural, contemporary and grounded in the material language of Munimba-ja’s practice.
Making the awards
The commission also created space for skills sharing around the professional finishing and presentation of commissioned artwork. From the earliest concept sketches through to the final timber bases, the focus was on making objects that felt considered, distinctive and worthy of the people they were made to honour. On the underside of the bases, the awards carried the acknowledgement:
Proudly Made by Munimba-ja Artists with the sponsors Logo’s
The people they were made to honour
Seeing the works leave the studio and become part of somebody else’s story is a special part of making them.
Lifetime Achievement — Aunty Bev Hand
Caring for Country — Kerry Jones
Community Spirit / Volunteer — Daniel Neill
Deadly Elder — Aunty Dale Chapman
Deadly Youth — Malakye Blow
Blak Business — Shane Kennelly
Creative Artist — Libby Harward
