Did you know that approximately 21.7 per cent of people in the City of Ipswich were born overseas?
This represents 163 countries of origin and more than 152 languages.
These numbers aren’t just statistics, they reflect the lived experiences, cultures and stories that shape everyday life and what it means to be a Queenslander today.
It’s this diversity, lived across neighbourhoods, workplaces and community spaces, that sits at the heart of Multicultural Queensland Month this August.
The celebration invites locals to recognise how diversity strengthens the city, and to highlight the journeys of individuals who have built new lives here while carrying the traditions, memories and resilience of their homelands.
One of those stories belongs to Kagi. Born in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, she grew up surrounded by rich Indigenous African traditions.
But conflict forced her to leave her home, separating her from the land, culture and community that shaped her identity.
When she resettled in Queensland, she found herself grappling with an experience familiar to many new residents, feeling visible yet unseen, present yet disconnected.
“I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere,” she said, reflecting on her early months in Australia. That changed during a moment of quiet reflection at Ipswich train station.
Kagi stopped in front of an Aboriginal art mural, struck by the colours and patterns that echoed the landscapes of her childhood.
She stared so long she missed her train, but the moment became a turning point. It was the first time since arriving in Australia that she felt a sense of cultural recognition, a reminder that identity can be carried, shared and rebuilt.
Inspired, she began teaching herself to paint. Through online tutorials and late night practice, she developed a style blending Sudanese influences with Australian Indigenous motifs.
It was during this creative rediscovery that she realised, “Art helped me find myself again.”
Her first solo exhibition featured 26 works, 16 of which sold, the gallery’s most successful show to date.
Kagi now runs workshops where she encourages others to explore belonging through creativity, and she works as a community organiser helping shift public understanding of refugees and people seeking asylum.
Her journey reflects the very spirit of Multicultural Queensland Month, that belonging grows when communities embrace difference, and that cities like Ipswich thrive when people from all backgrounds feel welcome, valued and able to share their stories.
