The Rockhampton Chinese Association will celebrate the completion of Stage One of the redecoration of Joss House, a Chinese temple and hall in North Rockhampton, this month.

Thanks to a Central Queensland University grant (via the Regional Centre of the Arts), the Rockhampton Chinese Association is undertaking a ‘renovation rescue’ on the 106–year-old Chinese Joss House, its artifacts and the hall in which they are kept.

Joss House on Bedford Street North Rockhampton has witnessed some quiet periods over the years, particularly when the Chinese culture and customs were frowned upon in the region. The building and its collection of Chinese artifacts have survived years of hardship, times of suppression and extreme weather.

In recent years, with the influx of CQU’s international students to the region, the building and the Chinese culture have been given a breath of life.

Today, Joss House is being resurrected with people gathering for renovation and landscaping projects, cultural maintenance and festivities.

Joss House is also the site for a collection of Chinese artifacts dated 1900.

The receipt of a Regional Centre of the Arts (RCotA) grant – a CQU initiative – has enabled the purchase of brushes, paints and other basic materials to use in the preservation.

Rockhampton Chinese Association President Dorothy Khoo was thrilled to have received support for the renovation from the Life Be In It - Work for the Dole participants, as well as participation by other local businesses.

The RCotA has been established by Central Queensland University to encourage the development of all forms of the Arts in Central Queensland. The Centre provides a liaison role between CQU and the Arts community of Central Queensland and recommends to the Vice-Chancellor proposed budgets for grants to support approved arts projects.