Blak Roots, 2008 by NorthSite Contemporary Arts

blak roots

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s Cover. Right: Mark Hollingsworth, Bigin (rainforest shield) 2007 Left: Dawn Naranatjil, Yakuri (school of bait fish) 2007 (detail) Back: Abe Muriata, Jawun, Lawyercane, 2007 This catalogue celebrates a body of work collated for the KickArts Indigenous Survey exhibition, Blak Roots, commemorating 20 Years of Wet Tropics World Heritage in collaboration with School of Creative Arts, JCU. KickArts Contemporary Arts is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and is supported financially by Arts Queensland and the Australia Council for the Arts through the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments. Sponsors and Partners Arts Queensland Australia Council for the Arts Wet Tropics Management Authority James Cook University, School of Creative Arts QantasLink Boom Sherrin Black and Moore Pawsey and Prowse Publisher KickArts Contemporary Arts 96 Abbott Street Cairns QLD 4870 Australia Postal address: PO Box 6090 Cairns QLD 4870 Australia www.kickarts.org.au info@kickarts.org.au Telephone: 07 4050 9494 International telephone +61 7 4050 9494 Published in association with the exhibition, Blak Roots, held at KickArts Contemporary Arts, commemorating 20 Years of Wet Tropics World Heritage in collaboration with School of Creative Arts, JCU. November 2008 to February 2009. ISBN 978-0-9803402-4-2

KickArts Contemporary Arts Board Of Directors Mike Fordham, Chair Jenni Le Comte, Secretary Robyn Baker Jeneve Frizzo Robin Maxwell Billy Missi Roland Nancarrow Andrew Prowse Gayleen Toll Robert Willmet KickArts Contemporary Arts Staff Rae O’Connell, Director Beverley Mitchell, Shop Manager Linda Stuart, Administration Manager Samantha Creyton, Curator Andrew Weatherill, Business Development Manager Jan Aird, Marketing Manager Leith Maguire, Administrator Morgan Brady, Administrator © KickArts Contemporary Arts 2008 Copyright KickArts Contemporary Arts, the artists and authors 2008. This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publisher. No illustration in this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright owners. Neither may information be stored electronically in any form whatsoever without such permission. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the publisher. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher.

P a r t n e r s

Dimensions of works of art are given in millimetres (mm), height preceding width preceding depth where applicable. Publication team Artists: Group exhibition Director: Rae O’Connell Curator and catalogue editor: Russell Milledge Writers and contributors: Russell Milledge, Rae O’Connell, John Grey Design and production: Sam Creyton Photography: David Campbell unless indicated otherwise Proof reading: Beverley Mitchell Printed by: GEON Printing, Cairns With thanks to: The dedicated Art Centre Co-ordinators in Far North Queensland who collected and entered work on behalf of many of the artists

KickArts is supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.

a n d

S p o n s o r s

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Forword - John Grey

Introduction - Rae O’Connell

Shared Embrace - Russell Milledge

Painting 12 Weaving 38 Artifacts 56 Works on paper 61

f o r e w o r d

This year is the Twentieth anniversary of the listing of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area (WTWHA). The Wet Tropics was inscribed on the World Heritage List on 9 December 1988. The Blak Roots exhibition showcases the way in which Indigenous people identify with the Wet Tropics as a living cultural landscape where seasons, plants, animals, mountains, waterways, stories, ceremonies, places and people are intertwined and interdependent. Just as scientists can explain scientifically how nature works, Indigenous cultures also have a deep and integral understanding of the Wet Tropics landscape which can be demonstrated through artistic expression. This exhibition also aims to reveal the Indigenous contemporary history of the area whereby themes such as dispossession, forced removal, land management, tourism and mission life are also woven into the landscape of the Wet Tropics. Through a partnership between KickArts Contemporary Arts, the School of Creative Arts James Cook University, the Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA) and Indigenous artists, it is hoped that the Blak Roots exhibition will help reconciliation between Indigenous and non - Indigenous people. These works play an important role in passing on and sharing Indigenous culture, which is done through visual arts, weaving, dancing and story - telling. We are proud to support this creative process. As WTMA moves towards the future, we are continuing to establish new partnerships and are strengthening existing relationships with local, state, national and international communities. Projects such as this one, provide an opportunity to communicate to the public our vision and commitment for the future of our region through creative expression. Finally, I would like to congratulate all the artists for the work they have contributed to this celebration of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area through Blak Roots. I wish them every success for this exhibition. I would also like to congratulate the Kick Arts Board of Directors and staff and JCU academic Russell Milledge, for their foresight in developing this exhibition with North Queensland Indigenous artists. Also, last but not least, the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts for its continual support of WTMA and to Arts Queensland for its ongoing support of the important work produced by KickArts and the Indigenous Art Centres through which many of the artists work. John Grey Lieutenant General (Ret’d) Chair, Wet Tropics Management Authority 4

i n t r o d u c t i o n

KickArts is proud to present Blak Roots, a survey exhibition of new works of art by Indigenous artists that celebrates 20 years of World Heritage in Far North Queensland. This exhibition is the result of a very successful partnership between Wet Tropics Management Authority, James Cook University and KickArts. We would like to acknowledge and thank the artists represented in this exhibition and the Art Centre Coordinators and Managers who have also worked with us to bring this important body of work together. We would also like to thank the staff from the Wet Tropics Management Authority for their foresight in initiating this partnership and the commitment they have made to its success. We have also had the pleasure of working with Russell Milledge who curated this exhibition through his work at James Cook University. A truly collaborative and successful endeavor. This is the third year KickArts has presented a significant survey exhibition of Indigenous artists’ work from across Far North Queensland. Works of art were sought from a varying demographic from Townsville in the South, to Mount Isa to the West, up across Cape York to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the Torres Strait. The result has been outstanding with 54 artists submitting work representing the communities of Badu, Bamaga, Bentinck Island, Erub (Darnley Island), Forsythe Island, Cairns, Girringun, Hopevale, Lockhart River, Moa Island, Mona Mona, Mornington Island, Normanton, Pormpuraaw and Thursday Island. With this great representation comes a wide variety of art forms from emerging and established artists. The following pages reveal baskets, jewellery, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and traditional shields, swords and spears. One work from each artist has been included in this publication with additional works included on the KickArts website. We welcome new artists who have not exhibited with us before and, of course, those who are participating again. Rae O’Connell Director, KickArts Contemporary Arts.

s h a r e d

e m b r a c e

On behalf of KickArts, The Wet Tropics Management Authority and the School of Creative Arts JCU, I welcome the contributing artists and thank them for the power and energy of their individual and collective vision. This project presents a wonderful opportunity to celebrate twenty years of preservation and management of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The achievements include not only the Area’s inscription on the World Heritage list but also the enactment of legislation, governance by a dedicated authority and the highly praised Regional Agreement recognising Rainforest Aboriginal tribal groups, as Traditional Owners in land and cultural management. The continuity of Indigenous cultural values allows us to draw strength while reflecting on thousands of years of Indigenous custodial stewardship of this land and the intellectual resonance that flows on to our understanding of environmental conditions in the present day. The continued management of the Wet Tropics and other land and sea areas in our region are best engaged in a co - management system in conjunction with Traditional Owners, statutory authority, contemporary scientists and researchers recognising that the heart and soul of our environments rest within the expert protection of traditional Indigenous knowledge. It is a privilege to experience salient links to ancestral and kinship knowledge of the first Australians, evident in the intellectual and creative spirit embodied by these artists and manifest in the material objects they have created. It is equally exhilarating to experience the palpable contemporaneity of many of the works in Blak Roots as these artists engage with a modern world and bring to it, the ability to embrace a uniquely Indigenous Australian identity. What we interpret as expressive and exuberant uses of energy and colour, in our modernist tradition, are startling invocations of ‘I am’. Through application techniques of direct and immediate mark making a physicality and immediacy remains with the work. Here a kinesthetic empathy connects us with the artist in a similar way that we might experience a dancer’s movement. The artists 6

Russell Milledge

hands have danced across these surfaces and this activity, although leaving a permanent impression, is an ephemeral and metaphysical language; ‘I am here’–‘this is my place’. Nicholas Evans writing about Dulka warngiid the 2006 combined canvas by the remarkable women of Kaiadilt country relates, Dulka warngiid allows many translations into English. Dulka can mean ‘place’, ‘earth’, ‘ground’, ‘country’ and ‘land’; warngiid can mean ‘one’ but also ‘the same’, ‘common, in common’ and ‘only’. Because Bentinck Island and its small surrounding islands were the whole world for the Kaiadilt people, they did not need a word for Bentinck Island itself, since in actual conversation what was always more important were the specific places whose names rub shoulders every few hundred metres.

The Kaiadilt words Dulka warngiid were given the translation of ‘land for all’ but, as Evans indicates, it can also be translated as ‘the one place’, or ‘the whole world’. Indigenous visual culture offers an alternative response and an appropriate interpretation of our relationship to land. Many of the Indigenous cultural forms that emanate from ancestral origins inform an embodiment of the physical earth as an aesthetic representation. Relationships with the bush, through its direct physical qualities, and a mythological sense of place and time are transformed through the body and hand into objects of art. This is a deep relationship and reliance on country to establish identity and belonging. Indigenous material culture, such as traditional or contemporary paintings and ephemeral forms such as body movements, are definitive statements inextricably linking tribal and clan membership with custodial ownership of the land. These cultural values establish a metaphysical citizenship that has leveraged landmark decisions affecting us all, such as the 1992 Mabo determination which, in the High Court of Australia, overturned the doctrine of terra nullius (land belonging to no one). To have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture as a significant component of our national identity places all Australians in the forefront of cross-cultural reconciliation. This shared

embrace and fusion of national identity is also an opportunity to transform our lives in relationship to unfolding environmental crisis, and to move forward appropriately restoring quality of life and ecological justice. The aesthetic appreciation of the land in Western cultural traditions can, at times, either distance through objectification or romanticise through viewing the environment in simply human terms, for example, as picturesque. To interpret country as a landscape, in the Western aesthetic sense, requires us to view nature as static and essentially two dimensional. It is increasingly apparent that this is inappropriate and, as Allen Carlson points out in his collection of essays Aesthetics and the Environment, appreciation through this lens is ‘suspect not only on ethical grounds, but also on aesthetic grounds.’ Essentially it is time to adopt an attitude to the land that is active in its response rather than the passive states of contemplation and awareness that drive current Western aesthetic appreciation. Former chairman of the Mornington Island Council, the late Jagarairee Larry Lanley’s words reverberate from the welcome screen of the Woomera Aboriginal Corporation website, At the heart of everything is the land. It is the way we think and feel about the land that makes us Aboriginal. It is the only way to keep our culture. For many, many years our ancestors worked out how we should live in this country, how we should use everything around us, what to do to keep our relationship with it strong. These are the things the Europeans don’t understand about the way the bush can help us. These things can help Europeans too when their own way of living makes their lives sad. We can teach Europeans all about these things.

Indigenous Australians have endured many challenges in a post‑contact world. Violent encounters, dispossession, missionary zeal, amoral assimilation policies and racial discrimination are firmly committed to the historic record of European encounter in Far North Queensland. Many precolonial links to heritage became tenuous due to the dispossession of lands brought on by the incursions of

industry such as pastoralism, plantations and mining. The historical authors Edwina Toohey and Dorothy Jones researched alarming stories of Aboriginal resistance to harsh treatment and recorded these in their books. Jones used back copies of Brisbane’s Courier newspaper for her 1960 book Cardwell Shire Story compiling the savage reaction of Aboriginal people to European intrusion. Though the Courier of the 1800s may be a questionable source there is little doubting the atrocities committed on both sides. In the Wet Tropics area Christian missions established in the 1800s include those at Yarrabah, Mona Mona, Daintree and Mossman. The detention mission on Palm Island accompanied these places. By the early 1900s some missions had been transferred to state operated Aboriginal reserves, but the power of the sate to relocate Indigenous people remained current until 1965 and the power to remove children until 1971. Various reviews and reports have informed policy reform since then. However, Indigenous rights remain subject to new and reviewed acts of legislation by both state and federal governments effecting cultural tenure. Indigenous corporations continue to lobby and work in partnership with governments to formulate and implement policy frameworks toward the rights of self–determination. Despite the destructive encounters with colonial processes contemporary Indigenous people have revived the currency of traditional knowledge and the value of thousands of years of engagement and intellect, imbued with a sense of place, making the Indigenous culture strong and vital as a humanising force. In 1988 the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area was recognised for its natural heritage values. Further recognition through cultural heritage inscription would affect eighteen clan groups, inclusive of the Bama or Rainforest Aboriginal people, allowing empowerment through understanding and a specific focus on Indige nous heritage and values. Such efforts to recognise the cultural significance of the Rainforest People’s Indigenous nation has required some persistence. Vincent Mundraby, who chaired the steering committee for the 1998, Review of 7

Aboriginal Involvement in the Management of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, began his foreword, The nomination of the Wet Tropical Rainforests of North Eastern Australia in December 1987, for its natural values, was not without controversy and political intrigue. Rainforest Aboriginal groups were drawn into the debate at an early stage and they have continued to lobby for position and certainty with respect to their rights, interests and cultural integrity, with little gain.

When expectations were high, for recognition of unextinguished native title to areas of the Wet Tropics, Rainforest Aboriginal groups faced frustrating bureaucratic and policy delays. However, this same 1998 review marked a turning point in the negotiations and, by 2005, a Wet Tropics Management Authority media release announced a Premier’s Award for the Regional Agreement launched earlier that year. The award recognised partnership and reconciliation in the cooperative management between Rainforest Aboriginal people and the Queensland and Australian Governments. The Wet Tropics Regional Agreement provides a framework for the meaningful and beneficial involvement of Rainforest Aboriginal people in land and cultural heritage management. Meanwhile the World Heritage nomination for cultural values remains on a Federal Government priority list for reassessment. The natural and cultural significance of the Wet Tropics region warrants recognition and there are processes in place to ensure Indigenous cultural involvement. The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area incorporates 894,420ha and comprises mostly protected areas including a series of National Parks ranging between Townsville and Cooktown on the north - east coast of Queensland. The zoning represents approximately 50% of the Wet Tropics bioregion which consists of 1,976,000ha. Its geophysical backbone, the far northern section of Australia’s Great Dividing Range, extends north beyond the Wet Tropics into the Peninsula Ridge of Cape York and culminates with the near Western Islands of The Torres Strait. 8

Accompanying this mountain range to the west are tablelands with a narrow gradient between rainforest and tropical savannah; to the east are lowlands dominated by meandering rivers and floodplains. Theories interpreting the archaeological evidence of prehistoric Australia, recorded in Josephine Flood’s 1999 volume, describe trading routes that were active from Papua New Guinea through The Torres Strait and Cape York to what is now the Wet Tropics region. The migration of technological ideas and processes from Melanesia, including use of the outrigger canoe and semi–agricultural practices of tending to yams, made their way into the lives of northern Australia’s first people. Significant cultural material from the clans of the tropical east coast and gulf region, notably, prized bailer shell body ornaments, were distributed widely into other regions of Australia and as far as the southern coastline and Western Australia. It is suggested by archaeologists that these objects were carried along the river systems that marked ancient trading routes. Superior spears, spear throwers, rainforest shields and wooden swords from the Wet Tropics region were also traded widely, with specialised four barbed spears particularly coveted by spear fishing Islanders in the Western Islands of the Torres Strait. Established Indigenous populations created enduring designs in rock shelters as both engravings and elaborate paintings west of the coastal rainforest strip. At Laura, legendary rock art galleries found over an area of 10,000—15,000 square kilometres define Quinkan Country after the mythological spirit figures represented there. Pigment from one of these sites has been dated to 25,000 years before present. These same designs inform the continuity of contemporary work by a number of artists in Blak Roots. It is especially gratifying to celebrate this unique part of the world through the visual language, material culture and stories of the region’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. It is also apt to mention the role of the community–based art centres which, for many of the remotely located artists, act as

mediators bridging the tyranny of distance between urban populations. These art advisors focus on developing markets, documenting, authenticating and wholesaling the artists’ work. Jon Altman’s 2002 discussion paper to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, identifies that often the role of the art centre and art advisor extends beyond their core function, serving as agency for both commercial and cultural purposes in the artists’ life. The position of the art advisor becomes pivotal in market success and overcoming market failure. They are required to develop and maintain successful connections and consistent funding and distribution networks. When based in remote settlements art advisors often commute long distances to outstations and homelands with their artists. This project would like to acknowledge the following centres for their contribution: Girringun Aboriginal Corporation Hopevale Arts & Cultural Centre Lockhart River Arts & Cultural Centre Mona Mona Cultural Education Centre Mornington Island Arts & Crafts Centre Pormpuraaw Arts & Cultural Centre Not all of the artists in Blak Roots are represented through a community art centre, there are also a number of urban Indigenous artists in Blak Roots who make their own networks in the art world and market. Commercial galleries which then distribute and wholesale their work represent some of these artists exclusively, while others represent themselves and may access support networks through notfor-profit art centres, educational institutions and galleries. Historical indifference on the part of government funding towards support for urban Aboriginal artists, as reported by Sallie Anderson in her 2001 doctoral thesis, has to some extent been ameliorated through foundation funding to UMI Arts and Djumbunji Press, both located in Cairns. In some instances commercial gallery representation is relied upon exclusively and this can inhibit the supply and display of leading artists’ work, and in particular makes the availability of significant

major works for display in Cairns and for regional audiences difficult and expensive. To a degree this situation may be reversed with the inauguration of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair in 2009. This initiative of the Queensland Government’s $10.7 million, Backing Indigenous Arts program and managed by Arts Queensland, aims to bring commercial dealers, collectors, and collecting institutions together with art centres and artists in Far North Queensland. The project has enormous potential to focus attention on Indigenous cultural and creative innovation, becoming a catalyst for an accelerated revival and popular celebration. The works represented in Blak Roots have been created in a variety of media and this catalogue uses these attributes to group the representations of art throughout its pages. Each type of object, whether it is a carved Rainforest Shield or an etching printed from a laser - cut copper plate, has a particular relationship to Indigenous kinship knowledge, traditional story or technique. Often when we are confronted by the overt connection to spirituality that is inherent in much Indigenous material culture we experience an intricate link to a time before time. With one eye on the past as purposeful as our gaze on what is to come, we can look forward to a shared future where the world has become so much smaller– so much more fragile. David Burnett’s introduction in the catalogue accompanying the 2003 Queensland Art Gallery project Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest, identifies the struggle to translate Indigenous concepts of time and of an ancient paradigm where myth and reality fluidly combine, Appellations such as ‘Dreamtime’, ‘before time’, ‘ancestor time’ are inadequate to describe the cycle of belonging in which the land, language, cultural practices, songs, ritual and belief is inscribed. Perhaps the nearest we can come is to invoke the idea of forever.

Sally Butler, in the same volume, articulates this as ‘time in motion’, an Indigenous dimension of reality where the past and present are renegotiated 9

and where the terms of each coalesce generating continued motivation, creativity and innovation. It is wonderful that the inclusive works of art represent great diversity and strength from individual artists and communities well beyond the cartographical boundaries of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The artists included in this exhibition have come forward with their creations to join in celebration of our shared destiny and culture. They offer their vision to a project that empowers cooperation and an appreciation for the depth of knowledge preserved in their marks. Just as preservation and management of the Wet Tropics region is a responsibility for us all; its heritage values and natural ecological attributes, affect the quality of life for all Australians, vis - à - vis all humanity, as the act of World Heritage inscription attests.

Bibliography Altman, JC & Australian National University. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. 2002, Some competition and consumer issues in the Indigenous visual arts industry, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Canberra, A.C.T. Anderson, SS 2001, The Aboriginal art industry in Cairns, Queensland : an ethnographic study, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2005, Overturning the doctrine of Terra Nullius : the Mabo case, AIATSIS, Canberra, A.C.T. Burnett, D 2003, Art of the Cape: an introduction in Story Place : Indigenous art of Cape York and the rainforest, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Qld. Butler, S 2007, Our Way : contemporary Aboriginal art from Lockhart River, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Qld. Callaghan, M 2006, Mangal-bungal : clever with hands : baskets and stories woven by some of the women of Hopevale, Cape York Peninsula, Hopevale Community Learning Centre Aboriginal Corporation, Hopevale, Qld. Carlson, A 2002, Aesthetics and the Environment : The appreciation of nature, art and architecture, Routledge, London. David, B & Wilson, M 2002, Inscribed landscapes : marking and making place, University of Hawai’I Press, Honolulu. Evans, N, Martin-Chew, L, Memmott, P, Mornington Island Arts & Craft. & Woomera Aboriginal Corporation. 2008, The heart of everything : the art and artists of Mornington & Bentinck Islands, McCulloch & McCulloch Australian Art Books, Fitzroy, Vic. Flood, J. 1999. Archaology of the Dreamtime: the story of prehistoric Australia and its people, Rev.ed. edn, HarperCollins, Pymble, N.S.W. Jones, D 1961, Cardwell Shire Story, Jacaranda Pr. and Cardwell Shire Council, Brisbane, Qld. Jones, J 2007, Feasibility Study : Cairns Indigenous Art Marketplace, Arts Queensland, Brisbane, Qld. Ulm, S, Reid, J 2000, Index of Dates from Archaeological Sites in Queensland, QAR, Vol. 12, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld. Kerry, A 2006, The Universal Citizen: An Indigenous Citizenship Framework for the Twenty-first Century, Issue 2 Australian Aboriginal Studies. Lanley, L (n.d.) Welcome, http://www.woomerami.org/, accessed 7 November 2008. Mundraby, V 1998, The Review of Aboriginal Involvement in the Management of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, Wet Tropics Board of Management, Cairns, Qld. Toohey, E 1994, Kie Daudai: notes and sketches from Cape York, Ravenshoe, Qld. Wet Tropics Management Authority, 2006-2007 State of the Wet Tropics Report, http://www.wettropics.gov.au/res/res_report.html, accessed 6 November 2008, Cairns, Qld.

Naomi Hobson, First Storm, 2008, mixed media, 1200 x 605 mm

p a i n t i n g

Hinchinbrook’s mangrove everglades’ dreaming, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 600 x 760 mm

Shirley Collins Traditional Name Yumala Born Mt Isa Location Deeragun Tribe Pitta Pitta Totem Brolga Bio Both Yumala’s parents were Aboriginal people. Her father was of Aboriginal and German descent, however Yumala grew up knowing only her Aboriginal Culture and ways. Yumala is still on a journey to find out more information about her mother’s family.

Story This painting is my depiction of the view of Hinchinbrook Island as seen from the Cardwell Range lookout in Queensland. This large island history shows how it came into being after the last ice age where the sea levels rose and flooded the channels and became the waterways as we know them today. I feel that my painting is a great interpretation for the ‘Blak Roots’ exhibition that is the ‘season of the rains’. As you see in the painting, this huge huge island is dwarfed by the valley of the large mangrove ecosystem. The ecosystem is vital to the life of the land itself, the habitats of all the land and aquatic animals, including us. It creates its own fine balance to let all survive within its truly remarkable ecosystem, this includes its own seagrass beds in the shallow waters that attract Dugong. The large waterways snake through the maze of everglade channels and provide a great haven for the dugongs and a large variety of different fish species including the barramundi. 13

Fishtrap Mangrove, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 1220 x 915 mm

Healing Country, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 1220 x 915 mm

Arone Raymond Meeks Born Laura, 1957 Location Cairns Tribe Kuku Midigi Language Kuku Yalanji Bio Arone’s tribal area is Laura, Far North Queensland, in 1984 he completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at City Art Institute in Sydney. Story Walking through his country has a palpable effect on Arone. He feels a physical reaction to sacred country that helps forge relationships with kinship, a sense of self and ‘renewing the dreaming’. Arone’s art is not governed by the same barriers and protocols that govern traditional Aboriginal art, but is placed in the context of the contemporary urban.

Wet, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 1220 x 915 mm 14

Urban jungle 1, 2008 acrylic and pencil on paper, 500 x 6500 mm

Brian Robinson Born Waiben 1973 Location Cairns Bio Robinson is a multi-skilled contemporary artist, whose practice includes painting, printmaking, sculpture and design. The graphic style in his practice combines his Torres Strait Islander heritage with a strong passion for experimentation, both in theoretical approach and medium, as well as crossing the boundaries between reality and fantasy. The results intertwine styles as diverse as graffiti art through to intricate relief carvings and construction sculpture echoing images of Torres Strait cultural motifs, objects and activity. Robinson is represented in numerous state, national, international and private collections.

Story Urban jungle I is the first in a series of works that focuses on the natural environment and landscape of Far North Queensland after the onset of the monsoonal rains, which drenches the region annually from November through to February. Sculptural in its appearance, Urban jungle I also comments on the unique forms that grow abundantly throughout the region - lush vegetation comprising both geometric and organic forms that continually inspire, providing an abundance of creative stimuli for artists living in the region and those drawn to its wonders. 15

Hinchinbrook’s - mangrove everglades’ dreaming, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 76 cm, 2008 Jawun, 2008 acrylic on canvas, 500 x 600 mm

Nancy Beeron Born North Murray River 1941 Location Jumbun Community Tribe Girramay/Jirrbal Language Girramay/Jirrbal Totem Barramundi/Black Bream Bio Nancy began weaving in her 30s. She learnt from her mother when she was a child. Her jawuns have been exhibited in a number of exhibitions including Story Place and Woven Purpose, and are held in state and private collections. She started painting in 2008. 16

Story Jawun are used to process the black bean in running water, to carry babies, and catch fish in creeks.

Yadar, 2008, acrylic on canvas board, 450 x 450 mm

Lesley Grant Traditional Name Jumali Born 1984 Location Jumbun Community Tribe Jirrbal Language Jirrbal Totem Davidson Falls Bio Lesley started painting in year 12 at school. She paints mostly stories from her traditional country.

Story Yadar is the stingray story from Murray Falls. This story comes from my grandmother’s side/country (Girramay). 17

Bungara (Blue-tongue Lizard Story), 2008, acrylic on canvas, 500 x 600 mm

Tonya Grant Traditional Name Jinnabooday Born 1973 Location Jumbun Community Tribe Jirrbal Totem Davidson Falls (Bunday Bunday) Bio Tonya is a weaver of the Jawun, the traditional lawyer cane, bicornual basket unique to the North Queensland rainforest people. Tonya’s mother, Desley Henry, was a well known and respected Jawun weaver whose baskets are in permanent museum, 18

gallery and private collections throughout Australia and internationally. Before Tonya’s mother died, she passed on her traditional techniques and skills to her daughter and grandchildren. Tonya is now creating and exhibiting her own jawuns of differing sizes for different purposes. Story Bungara story is how the water came to the Murray Valley. My son can’t go back to his story place (lagoon) because it’s not there any more. It has been filled in for cane farm.

Mawa (Freshwater Shrimp), 2008, acrylic on canvas, 450 x 610 mm

Leonard Andy Traditional Name Yumala Location Girrungun Tribe Djiru

Totem Stingray

and intricate, painted on carved wooden swords, boomerangs, spear throwers and canvases. He also has just begun exploring batik as a new medium for his artwork. Leonard has exhibited in the Innisfail Sugar Museum 2003, and in the exhibition Wabu barra.

Bio Leonard Andy b.1962, started painting when he was a teenager. He currently lives on his traditional country and creates unique artefacts, paintings and batiks. Leonard paints animals, plants and stories from Djiru country. His style and designs are fine

Story This is a painting of mawa in his natural environment with animals that he interacts and lives with. Mawa is an important animal, keeping the creeks healthy and breaking down all the dead and organic material in the creek.

Language Djiru

Bunday Bunday (Davidson Falls), 2008, acrylic on canvas, 915 x 610 mm

Kayla Henry Location Jumbun Born 1985 Tribe Jirrbal Totem Davidson Falls (Bunday Bunday) 20

Bio I was taught to paint by my mother when I was little. I mainly paint traditional stories from Jirrbal tribe, which starts from Davidson and goes all the way up to the Tableland area. Story Bunday Bunday is the Jirrbal name for Davidson Falls which is my traditional country. This painting is the story about how cyclones were made. This story was told to us by our father. It comes from his side.

Yirrinyjila (Dragonfly) Story, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 505 x 505 mm

Deborah Grant Traditional Name Gimbinu Born 1976 Location Jumbun Community Tribe Jirrbal Language Jirrbal Totem Davidson Falls (Bunday Bunday)

Story This story comes from the Murray Falls area. The yirrinyjilla was flying over the waterfall and making lots of noise. The people got sick of the noise and hit him. He landed and turned to stone. 21

Burrajingal, 2008 acrylic on canvas, 455 x 360 mm

Elizabeth Nolan Traditional Name Gurrugagungi Born 1962 Location Girrungun Tribe Jirrbal/Girramay Totem Jaban/Eel Bio Elizabeth is a master string (bumbil) maker. She was taught by her mother. Elizabeth started painting earlier this year (2008).

Story The burrajingal basket is used to carry scrub hen eggs after collecting in the wet season. It is also used to carry bush food and other bush tools/objects.

Autumn, 2008 acrylic on canvas, 750 x 500 mm

Harold Bowen Born Cairns Location Hopevale Art Centre Tribe Thuphiwarra/Dharthawarra Language Gwguyimithirr Totem Crocodile, Dingo, White cockatoo Story This painting is called Autumn and represents the preparation of Winter in which the environment around us is preparing itself for the cold months ahead. 23

Ganhar, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 610 x 910 mm

Leah Kerr Born Cairns Location Hopevale Art Centre Language Gwguyimithirr Totem Black cockatoo Story This is a painting of Ganharr, or crocodile. 24

Imjim Quinkan, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 1220 x 920 mm

Derek Rosendale Location Hopevale Art Centre Tribe Binthi Warra Language Guugu Yimithirr Totem White Cockatoo

Story The Imjin Quinkan is a Mythological creature of the Sunset Yalanji people of my Father. Imjim is a mischievous impish creature who lives in the waterholes and lagoons of the Yalanji lands. He takes children who have strayed from their parents too close to the waterholes and makes them his own little Quinkans. 25

Hunting in the wet season, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 510 x 750 mm

Marlene Holroyd Location Pormpuraaw Language Mungkan and Thaayorre Totem Jabiru Bio I have always enjoyed painting and drawing. I have also watched my mum making dilly bags and dad doing the spears, usually when we go out camping. My home is north from Pormpuraaw at Thaa-nhuge, that’s my mum’s home, my dad’s land is at top Holroyd. Story Sometimes in the dry we visit our country and go fishing and hunting. In the wet we go by boat, my brother-in-law and sister they have a dingy and motor. We collect geese eggs, especially in the swamps. I have painted geese, an eagle and those small grass birds, they usually like it when the grass is long and you can see lots of them. The magpies lay eggs in the wet time, the hawks wait for fish in that time too when the water is high. There are lots of ducks in the swamps. 26

Freshwater flowing into saltwater, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 940 x 1200 mm

Cathy Snow Born 1954 Location Normanton Tribe Gkuthaarn Bio Snow’s trademark colours are red and black, however these have been extended to include a range of other colours to portray traditional stories in a more contemporary way. Her paintings are inspired by her childhood, her environment, her family and the stories she remembers growing up and from her adult experiences. Snow finds that painting is her way of communicating her stories which she likes to express through her artwork. Story This work depicts the point at which fresh river water meets the salt water of the sea. 27

Rambarramba kamaar, 2008, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 1210 x 910 mm

Amy Loogatha Traditional Name Rayarriwarrtharrbayingat Born behind Ninjilki on Bentinck Island Location Mornington Island Art Centre Language Kayardild Bio ‘ I remember getting a message that Aunty Sally

Gabori was coming over to Bentinck to show us something. She brought one of her paintings and gave it to Ethel. It was beautiful. So we decided that we would follow Sally and paint too. I got a shock when I went to the Art Centre and saw all my sisters and Aunties painting. Now I paint with them.’

Yakuri (school of bait fish), 2007, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 1010 x 760 mm

Dawn Naranatjil Traditional Name Wirrngajiingathi Bijarrb Location Mornington Island Art Centre Tribe Kayardilt Language Kayardild Totem Long black tailed ray/Dugong Bio Dawn is sister to Roger Kelly, a senior Kaiadilt leader, and classificatory sister to Paula Paul. Story Bait fish swim together and move along sometimes in a ball. 29

Barramundi totem, 2008,synthetic polymer paint on linen, 1370 x 610 mm

Dorita Escott Traditional Name Wunda Born Forsythe Island 1968 Location Mornington Island Art Centre Language Yangkaal Bio Dorita is one of the latest emerging artists to come out of the Mornington Island Art Centre. She began painting in June 2008. 30

Leg mark designs, 2008, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 1210 x 1370 mm

Gordon Watt Traditional Name Bunbudgee Born Barrakiah, 1939 Location Mornington Island Art Centre Totem Dingo Language Lardil Bio Gordon was one of 11 children. He danced with the Mornington Island Dancers from 1973 to 1990, and was a founding member of the men’s painting movement in the early 2000s.

Story Gordon’s imagery derives from the leg marking paint-up of the Dingo Dance. Strongly defined yellow and white represents the place where the Dingo died and the sacred ochre used for painting up. Gordon favours reds, browns and greys with sometimes a strong blue for outline. His paintings epitomise the synthesis of contemporary art of the Lardil men with the creation stories and totem designs on which they are based. 31

Tiger shark, 2007, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 910 x 1210 mm

Lance Gavenor Traditional Name Gagawyng Born Forsythe Island, 1959 Location Mornington Island Art Centre Language Yangkaal Bio Lance had a free childhood, hunting and fishing

with other young children. After school he went to Sydney and attended ballet school. In 1977, he went back to Mornington Island and danced for the Woomera Aboriginal Corporation’s, Mornington Island Dancers until 1990. After he finished dancing, he went back to painting, which he had done as a boy.

Story I love doing traditional paintings and story time paintings as well. I like to see what other painters are doing, to see other styles, cause we all have our own ways.

Shells, 2008, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 910 x 1210 mm

Paula Paul Traditional Name Kuruwarriyingathi Bijarrb Born Bentink Island, 1937 Tribe Kaiadilt Location Mornington Island Art Centre Language Kayardild

Three boys and three girls. She is currently living on Bentinck Island, where she helped secure land rights to get her country back. Paula paints the shells of the coastal reaches of her Bentinck Island country. Picked out in a dotted line, their shapes are either spare or layered so densely that the entire painting surface is covered. She also does paintings based on body markings, using browns, blacks or pastels on a white ground. These markings are often self-inflicted scars, which are a way of expressing grief.

Bio Paula lived in a dormitory on Mornington Island.

She worked on a sheep station near Cloncurry with her parents for two years. Paula moved back to Mornington Island to get married, and had 6 children:

Story I like to paint the shells that are found on the beach. We collect them and make shell necklaces from some of them. 33

My country, 2008, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 1520 x 1010 mm

Sally Gabori

Language Kayardild

eighties and living in an aged care hostel on Mornington Island. During an outing to the Arts and Craft Centre, she asked to be taken out to gather grass for weaving. She was given a canvas while she was waiting and started experimenting. Within seven months Sally had enough work to hold her first exhibition at Wooloongabba Art Gallery – it was a sell out. All of Sally’s stories relate to her homeland of Bentinck Island. Some are based on the Island’s unique system of stone fish traps. Others relate to the creation and other stories associated with her country, Miridingki, and those of her husband’s country, Makarrki, which is the main area on the Island in where dugongs are trapped.

Bio Sally was a keen weaver and maker of fine string bags as a young woman. In 2005 she was in her early

Story This is where I was born on Bentinck Island next to a small river.

Traditional Name Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Born Mirdidingki, 1924 Tribe Kaiadilt Totem Dolphin Location Mornington Island Art Centre

Wudma Headband, 2008, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 1370 x 610 mm

Stephanie Toby Born Forsythe Island, 1957 Language Yangkaal Location Mornington Island Art Centre 35

Love rocks, 2008, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 1200 x 910 mm

Ethel Thomas Traditional Name Warthardangathi Bijarrba Born Bentinck Island, at Oak Tree Point, 1946 Location Mornington Island Art Centre Tribe Kaidilt Language Kayardild Bio ‘Aunty Sally showed me her paintings when she came back to Bentinck. She gave me one ‘cause I was her favourite. Now I’m doing the same painting with my sisters and aunties. It’s good painting all day to get away from the house.’ 36

Above the surface they circle, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 1390 x 1230 mm

Naomi Hobson Traditional Name Yikun Location Coen/Lockhart River Tribe Southern Kaanju Totem Put’ta (Death adder snake) Bio My name is Naomi Hobson. My traditional lands

lie on the McIlwraith Range down to the east coast south of Lockhart River and north of Coen. I grew up spending a majority of my childhood on this country with my Grandparents. This is what inspired me to become an artist, the colours and pattern of nature itself, stories from the past, the unique transformation of the land over the seasons... and my own special places that are etched in my memory, these are places

I regularly visit. It is through my art I aim to reflect and share with others in a contemporary way, my stories, customs and my country, whether it be on canvas or board, in the sand, through ink on paper or in clay. Story After the first Wet, the waterholes would be full with warm water. This was the time when what was buried in the bottom of the waterhole or left at the bottom of the dried up waterhole would surface. Sometimes I would see lines of colours circling on the surface; red, blue, purple and white. They would swirl into different shapes and forms. This, I was told was the old skin left behind by the Rainbow snake (Pyi’yumu) and if we drank that water or swam in it we would get very sick. It was after more of the Wet when everything that surfaced was now washed away, this meant Pyi’yumu had moved on and the water in the river beds, creeks and spring holes was ready now to drink, swim and use. 37

w e a v i n g

Yellow Mindi, 2008, plastic string, 9.5 (without handle) x 5.5 x 5.1 cm

Daniel Beeron Traditional Name Gullamun Location Murray Upper Tribe Girramay/Jirrbal Totem Waterhole/swamp Bio I was born at Tully hospital and lived at Murray Upper. Growing up mainly amongst family, all our lives were spent enjoying the scrub, fishing, camping, something that’s hard to replace. Story My mum taught me to make it and found materials easy to weave with and we are twenty something years apart. Mother to son teachings. 39

Donna Henry, Jawan, (pictured far right) 2008, calamus sp, 33 x 17 x 9.5 cm Sally Murray, Gundala, (pictured bottom centre) 2008, lawyercane, 20 x 18.5 x 20.5 cm Shiceal Beeron, Jawan (pictured far left) 2008, lawyercane sp, 32.5 x 17 x 11 cm Trisha Beeron, Jawun (pictured middle top) 2008, lawyercane 22 x 13.5 x 7 cm

Donna Henry

Sally Murray

Traditional Name Junduga

Born Davidson Falls Area 1982

Born Davidson Creek Area, 1947

Location Jumbun Community

Tribe Jirrbal

Tribe Jirrbal/Girramay

Totem Davidson Falls

Bio Donna started weaving when she was 9 years old. She was taught to weave the traditional Jirrbal weaving styles by her mother Desley Hentry, a well known weaver of jawun. She has exhibited with her mother and sister Tonya Grant in Woven Purpose, 2005, Craft QLD, Brisbane.

Bio Sally is a Jirrbal/Girramay Elder of the Davidson Creek area. A skilled weaver, Sally weaves the traditional gundala basket, a coil basket made with split lawyer cane, and the traditional small grass mindi basket. Through weaving workshops at the Jumbun Community, Sally passes on her traditional knowledge to her grandchildren and other members of the community.

Story Jawun were used to leach out the toxins from the Black Bean, a staple food source for our people. The black bean was put into jawun, after other processing and left for a number of days in the running water of the creek. Weaving jawun reminds me of my mother.

Story The gundala basket was used to carry eggs and bush food.

Trisha Beeron

Shiceal Beeron

Traditional Name Waddayin

Traditional Name Mudagee

Location Jumbun Community

Tribe Jirrbal/Girramay

Totem Parrot

Totem Lagoon ( Warrami)

Bio Trisha began weaving in 2004 and was taught by her grandmother Desley Henry (dec). Trisha weaves jawun, gundala and eel trap (wungarr). She is the youngest weaver in Jumbun community.

Bio Shiceal is one of the Jumbun community’s youngest weavers. He is 14 years old and was taught to weave jawun by his grandmother, Desley Henry. His grandmother (on his father’s side), Theresa Beeron, is also a respected and well known weaver of a number of traditional basket types, and continues to encourage Shiceal to practice weaving. He began weaving jawun when he was 11 and has made a number of jawun in the past two years. Weaving is traditionally both a male and female activity in the Girramay and Jirrbal tribal groups. Shiceal is the next generation of traditional weavers and represents the continuation of the male weaving practice in his community. Shiceal has exhibited in other exhibitions and his jawun are held in public and private collections.

Story The gundala basket was used to carry eggs and bush food.

Jawun, (pictured left) 2008, lawyercane, 48 x 23.5 x 15 cm

Sandra Leo Traditional Name Mungumba Location Jumbun Community Tribe Girramay Totem Margoyee (Carpet snake) Bio Sandra creates finely crafted jawun from lawyercane collected and prepared on her traditional land. She started weaving after her mother died. She learnt to weave jawun by watching her mother and grandmother weave when she was a child. She has been developing and attuning her weaving style and practice since 2003. Since then she has exhibited and sold her weavings through local galleries and exhibitions. 42

Story Jawun is made in different sizes for different purposes. Jawun was woven in the Wet season to process the black bean seeds to make them edible. ‘Good to keep the weaving going so we can teach our kids and grandkids’.

Jawan, 2007, lawyercane, 300 x 200 mm

Abe Muriata Traditional Name Ngheway Location Tully Tribe Girramay Totem Thunderstorm Bio Abe was born in the bush at Murray Upper where he grew up and spent most of his life at the Jumbun Community. He is currently living in Tully. A self taught weaver of the lawyer cane jawun, Abe explores different techniques to create finely crafted bicornual baskets unique to the rainforest people. Abe learnt the weaving technique from watching his grandmother make them when he was a child. He also studies old artefacts in museums created by his ancestors to inspire his

individual jawun technique. He often paints his jawun with ochres in traditional Girramay designs. Abe is also a traditional rainforest shield maker, a skill he learnt from his Uncle. Story I aim to weave the finest jawun in the last 50 100 years. I am inspired by studying the old jawun in museums and galleries. The jawun is an exquisite art form of our rainforest culture. 43

Wungarr (pictured right) 2007, lawyercane, 71 x 5 x 11 cm Juda, Baby basket (pictured left) 2007, lawyercane, 87 x 55 x 41 cm

Maureen Beeron Traditional Name Baynu Location Jumbun Community Tribe Girramay Totem Jewfish Bio Maureen is a weaver of wungarr, traditional lawyer cane eel traps, jawun (bicornual baskets) and is skilled in traditional string making using bark (bumbil). Her cousin-sister passed on these weaving skills to Maureen who continues to create these traditional functional artworks. Maureen has exhibited her work in Woven 44

Purpose 05, Wabu-barra: Art from the Rainforest 06, Bunyaydingu rainforest weavings 07, Looking forward Looking Blak 07. ‘I enjoy weaving for myself, my culture and for the kids to learn too.’ Story Pictured right: The wungarr is used to trap eels in the creek. They swim into the wungarr and can’t swim backwards out. Pictured left: The juda is used to carry babies.

Mindi i (pictured left) 2008, grass, 27.5 x 5.5 x 5.5 cm Mindi ii (pictured right) 2008, grass, 27 x 6.5 x 6 cm

Theresa Beeron Location Murray Upper Tribe Jirrbal/Girramay Language Jirrbal/Girramay Bio Maureen is a weaver of wungarr, traditional lawyer caneTheresa was taught to weave the traditional baskets of the Jirrbal and Girramay people by her mother when she was young. She specialises in finely crafted mindi baskets made with special rainforest and river grasses. Theresa also creates the other traditional basket styles such as burrajingal and jawun from bugul (Lawyer cane). Theresa continues to pass on her weaving skills to the younger generations, as her mother did through the workshops. There are only

two weavers at the Jumbun community today who continue the traditional weaving of the burrajingal. Theresa has begun painting stories from her country this year. ‘I enjoy weaving and passing it on to the next generation.’ Story The mindi was used to trade with other groups and to carry message sticks. 45

Eileen Coleman, Left, Basket, 2008, cabbage palm, traditional dyes, 29 x 27 cm Eileen Coleman, Second from left, Dilly bag, 2008, cabbage palm, 39 x 19 cm Eileen Coleman, Third from left, Dilly bag, 2008, cabbage palm, 23 x 21 cm Lynette Coleman, Right, Basket, 2008, cabbage palm, natural dyes, 21 x 19 cm

Eileen Coleman

Lynette Coleman

Location Pormpuraaw

Totem Mina Pora ( black duck)

Totem Wallaby

Language Thaayorre

Language Thaayore

Story I have not done any weaving for a long time but now I am interested again in making baskets and dilly bags. My grandsons and granddaughters they learn from me when I do the weaving, they sit beside me and watch.

Story I have learned weaving from my mother since I was only nine years old. We go out together to cut cabbage palm and find some dye. We then do our weaving in the same way our grandmothers and mothers before them have done.

Wungarr (pictured left) 2007, lawyercane, 126.5 x 14 x 16 cm Jawun (pictured right) 2008, lawyercane, 75 x 31 x 26 cm

Ninney Murray Traditional Name Juribullan Location Jumbun Community Tribe Jirrbal/Girramay Language Jirrbal/Girramay Bio Ninney is a respected Elder and an expert weaver of all the traditional basket types traditionally created by the Girramay and Jirrbal people. From grasses which grow by the creek she also makes mindi, once used to carry message sticks and small objects for trading. Ninney also creates the traditional eel traps (wungarr), also made from lawyercane and used to trap freshwater eels in the creek. Her weaving skills

were passed down to her by her Aunty when she was young. Ninney started painting last year. Today Ninney continues to pass on her weaving skills and traditional knowledge to her people through weaving workshops at the Jumbun Community. Story Pictured left: Wungarr is used to catch eels in the creek. The wungarr is put in the creek with bait and the eels swim in and can’t swim backwards. Pictured right: We use jawun to process the mirryn (black bean). The black bean is put in the jawun after it is grated and put into the creek for a few days. I learnt to weave from my Aunty. 47

Rhonda Brim, (far left back, back centre ) Baskets, 2008, black palm, dimensions variable Monica Brim, (back far right) Baskets, 2008, black palm, dimensions variable Rhonda Duffin, Baskets, 2008, lomandra grass (small basket second from right), pandanus (large coloured basket) dimensions variable

Rhonda Duffin Location Kuranda Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Totem Guludu Story Rhonda has taught indigenous language in schools and was instrumental in the establishment of hte Jillabina Cultural Resource Centre showcasing aboriginal material culture. Learning to weave and make baskets through the Keeping Our Culture Alive program has given her the opportunity to learn how to make the items she once displayed.

Rhonda Brim Location Mareeba Totem Wulum Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story Rhonda learnt this weaving from her grandmother Wilma Walker. She has been inspired by her elders to keep their tradition alive. KOCA is a Djabugay family initiative to establish a Cultural Education Centre. Using traditional natural fibres and techniques Rhonda has been training family to keep their cultural heritage alive. Black palm, lomandra, pandanus, lawyer cane and natural dyes are their grandparents traditional skills.

Monica Brim Location Kuranda Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story Black palm is my favourite. We are just learning the techniques at KOCA.

Leandra Cannon, Basket, 2008, pandanus (left) dimensions variable Shelley Donahue, Basket, 2008, black palm, dimensions variable Norelle Cannon, Basket, 2008, black palm (centre) dimensions variable

Norelle Cannon Location Mareeba Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story Norelle is learning to weave and make baskets through the Keeping Our Culture Alive program. She likes working with black palm, dalmba grass and pandanus.

Leandra Cannon Location Mareeba Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story Leandra has been a practising visual artist for ten years. She is glad to be learning how to weave baskets through the Keeping Our Culture Alive program and enjoys learning about her culture. Leandra works with black palm, pandanus, dalmba grass and lawyer cane.

Shelley Donahue Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story Shelley began to learn weaving and making baskets in June 2008 as part of the Keeping Our Culture Alive program. She enjoys working with the black palm, dalmba grass, pandanus and lawyer cane.

Baskets, 2008, pandanus (left) and black palm (right), dimensions variable

Sheila Brim Location Mareeba Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story Sheila Brim has been a visual artist and ceramicist for over twenty years. She teaches painting to Indigenous students in schools, does a lot of voluntary community arts work and likes to promote indigenous art. Sheila is learning to weave through the Keeping Our Culture Alive program and loves it. 52

Baskets, 2008, lomandra and black palm, dimensions variable

Sherry Diamond Location Mareeba Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story ‘Basket weaving, dalmba grass and black palm are my favourite, and I am starting to learn the bicornial. The lomandra grass is easiest to gather. 53

Roslyn Newberry, Baskets, 2008, black palm (far left), (top centre), pandanus (middle centre), dimensions variable Andy Duffin, Basket, 2008, pandanus (large basket bottom centre), dimensions variable Winnie Brim, Basket, 2008, pandanus (far right), dimensions variable

Roslyn Newberry Location Mareeba Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story I like all of the basket types, pandanus, black palm, and dalmba (lomandra).

Andy Duffin Location Cairns Tribe Djabugay Language Djabuganydji Story Andy has been taught by his elders the traditional way to make boomerangs, didgeridoos, spear throwers, clap stick and fire sticks. Always interested in making things, learning to weave through the Keeping Our Culture Alive program has come very naturally to Andy.

Winnie Brim Location Mt Molloy/Carbine Maytown Language Kuku Yalanji (west) Story Winnie was born on a Mission. Her mother taught her traditional culture until she was ten, when she went into a dormitory. Being with the KOCA program has brought back her memories of weaving and she is also learning more. Winnie’s husband Warren Brim is a Djabugai Bush Tucker man.

a r t i f a c t s

Hammerhead Shark Headdress, 2005, plywood, black bamboo, string, plastic, paint, glass, feathers, 860 x 1060 x 710 mm

Ken Thaiday Senior Location Cairns Traditional Land Darnely Island Bio Ken Thaiday Snr. was born in 1950 on Erub (Darnley) Island in the Torres Strait. He is a senior indigenous artist renowned for his dance masks or ‘dance machines’. His father was a dancer and sculptural headdresses played an important role in the traditional Torres Strait Islander ceremonies of his youth. However, Thaiday now produces contemporary interpretations of the theme. He is inventive in his use of materials and frequently adds modern plastic components, plywood and paint to traditional natural

materials such as bamboo and feathers. Thaiday commonly depicts native fish and birds in his work, but he is best known for his shark headdresses. A shark is his key totemic animal and in his culture certain sharks are associated with law and order, so respect forms part of the inspiration for his headdresses. Story The Hammerhead shark headdress is designed to be worn during traditional dances, with the dancer able to control the movement of the shark and open and close the jaws by pulling the strings. The white feathers around the jaws represent foam breaking around the shark’s mouth as it feeds, adding to the sense of dynamic movement and power. 57

Bigin (rainforest sheild), 2007, fig wood and acrylic paint, 840 x 400 mm

Mark Hollingsworth Traditional Name Pitjurra Location Cardwell Tribe Girramay Language Girramay Bio ‘I grew up in the Cairns region. I make my living doing mainstream activities but art related to culture is a passion I pursue as time allows. Currently Mark is creating didgeridoos and emu eggs with designs carved and burnt into the wood, jawun, and shields.He would like to see the rainforest art and culture maintained and passed on to the future generations of rainforest people. He believes in the 58

importance of producing high quality Aboriginal artworks and sets a high standard for himself in his own work. This is demonstrated in the attention to detail obvious in his artworks. Mark has recently exhibited a rainforest shield, sword, boomerangs, carvings, etched portraits, emu eggs, and a bicornual jawun basket in Wabu-barra: Art from the rainforest at the Townsville Cultural Centre 2006.

7 Necklaces (detail) 2008, seeds and shells, dimensions varied

Amanda Gracie Holroyd Location Pormpuraaw Totem Sea turtle Language Thaayorre and Mungkan Story I joined the Art Centre about two years ago. Best of all I like going out to the rivers, lagoons and the beach because we can go fishing and hunting and find seeds, shells, we cut yam sticks, walking sticks for carving, cabbage palm for weaving and dig up dyes. I like making necklaces but I have also done some textile printing, painting and carving. Sometimes I take my grandmother out so she can relax. I like her stories when she was really young digging for yam, looking for turtle in our own country up north. 59

John Coleman Location Pormpuraaw Totem Boomerang, Wallaby, Bandicoot Language Thayorre Bio My work is about my country and the stories and the knowledge that has been passed on to me from my grandfather, father and older brother. I find everything I need in my country for making boomerangs, spears, thaawith, shields, woomera, and other things. Story We cut bamboo at any time, we make a bundle and hang them up, let them dry out. We use the dry bamboo sometimes, break them up and put a handle in made from wood. In the wet season, there might only be one large ridge but in the dry the country is more open, that’s the time to burn the country for wallaby. We used to make a windbreak. The women would burn the grass right around and all the family would work together. The men would make a windbreak and then wait on one side so the wallaby can’t see you. When they come, they sit down looking back at the fire. That’s when the men would throw the spear and hit the wallaby. They would just leave it to one side and keep going because the fire is still burning and more wallaby would be coming. The woman have a separate hunting story.

Left, Spear (detail) 2008, carved lancewood, wax, gum, bush string, red and white ochre, 2750 mm long Centre, Woomera, 2008, carved wood and shell, 610 mm long Right, Spear (detail) 2008, bamboo, carved wood and gum, 1900 mm long 60

w o r k s

o n

p a p e r

Maiwan Arika, 2007, linocut printed in black ink from one block on paper, hancoloured. 570 x 380 mm

Alick Tipoti Born Badu Island Location Torres Strait Bio Alick Tipoti is a Torres Strait Islander who is guided by the traditional cultural practices of his people. He believes in the Zugubal who were spoken about for many years by his ancestors. He is most diligent about what he sees as his responsibility to document the stories, genealogies, songs and other aspects of his culture so that it is available for future generations to learn, understand and practice. 62

Story This person has been sent by his elders to collect Akul (mussel). He sets out to the mud flats in the thick scrub of the mangroves, or the open areas. To him the feeling is rewarding that his elders will enjoy a delicious delicacy. He also feels the spirits of elders before his time, as they are happy for him to look after the temples that hold the traditional knowledge of his culture. These spirits are shown on the top part of the print.

Road of the rainforest, 2008, photograph, 1260 x 560 mm

Katrina Beattie Tribe Darug Totem Bushtail Possum Bio I was born and raised in south-east Queensland. My mother’s family’s country is the western Sydney/ Blue Mountains area, we are Darug people. Story Our country is a great spirit. You can see it in the nature of the rainforest - ever enduring, refusing to be told how it should respond to the actions of people. 63

Thulup Thonar (stingray season), 2008, linocut printed in black ink from one block on paper, edition of 35, 1800 x 850 mm

Joel Sam Born Waiben, Thursday Island Totem Bird and shark

Coral Sea. The squid (bidthai) represents a main food source, which Torres Strait Islanders hunt most of the time. Djumbunji Press KickArts Fine Art Printmaking is publishing several of his new prints.

Language Kala Lagaw Ya Bio Born on Thursday Island he currently lives in Cairns, having finished his art studies in 2005 with a Diploma of Art from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Visual Arts Course at the Tropical North Queensland TAFE. Over the last 4 years he has been developing an art practice and technical skills in the medium of the linocut. Joel’s artworks are inspired by his culture, and the images are of sea creatures that live in and around the Torres Strait, such as turtles, dugong, the fish of the reef and the shells and corals of the 64

Story Thulup (stingray) are a delicate food source to Islanders. The Thulup is a significant identity to Islanders as a totem in which Islanders identify as belonging to the clan group.This particular print describes the cycle of the Thulup which appears at the start of the turtle mating season (Solwal) around September. When Solwal is over, the Thulup makes itself obscure by sinking and burying itself in sand, causing dust and ripples in the sand. It camouflages itself from other predators until the next Solwal – it’s a cycle repeated!

Dugal, 2008, Etching on paper, 1650 x 1000 mm

Dennis Nona Born Badu Island Language Kala Lagaw Ya Bio Born on Badu Island in 1973 he was taught as a young boy the traditional craft of woodcarving. This skill has been developed and translated into the incredibly intricate and beautiful linocuts, etchings and sculptures created by the artist since the commencement of his art practice in 1989. The artist holds a Diploma of Art from Cairns TAFE, a Diploma of Visual Arts in Printmaking from the Institution of Arts, Australian National University, Canberra and is currently completing a Doctorate degree in Visual Arts at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane. Nona pioneered the development of the highly intricate linocut prints unique to the Torres Strait Islands. He has documented, in a vivid visual form, the ancient myths and legends of his island and the wider Torres Strait that had previously been transmitted by oral story telling and dance. Story Dugal is the name of the star that is visible in the early morning sky for about two weeks during

August and September. Its presence tells the Torres Strait Islanders that it is the time to harvest the wild yams, Kutai, Gabau and Saurr. It is the responsibility of the older people to look out for the star which is only visible for two to three hours each morning. By the time the yams are ready to harvest the monsoons have passed and much of the vegetation has died off. Finding the yams in the ground is a time consuming and onerous task. They are located by tracing the vines that are now dead and entwined and tangled with other vines and vegetation in trees they have climbed up, several metres away from the yam tuber. Skill and patience is essential, as the vines are brittle and often broken off making the job of tracing the correct vine very difficult. Because it is so time consuming, markers are sometimes left so the person tracking the vine can resume their search at another time. Once the yams are located and dug up the islanders are rewarded with a resource they have enjoyed for centuries and one that has sustained and provided them with a food that is very low in saturated fat and cholesterol and an excellent source of dietary fibre, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese. Dugam is depicted in the top left of the print shining through one of the leaves of the withered yam vine. The moon which is also present at this time is shown as the faded circle to the right of Dugal, also shining through the vine and leaves. 65

Waru Padh (green turtle nest), 2008, linocut printed in black ink from one block on paper, handcoloured, 1210 x 805 mm

Billy Missi Born Kubin, Moa Island Totem Kodal, Kaigas, Dhangal Language Kala Lagaw Ya Bio Billy Missi is inspired by cultural heritage and traditions with a Melanesian influence. These are expressed as a deep concern for the Torres Strait environment. He has exhibited frequently since beginning his artistic journey in the late 1990’s, being involved in a number of group exhibitions since 2000. Story All Torres Strait Islands have individual significance and a uniqueness about them, whether it’s to do with the vegetation or the eco–system. Maluilgal Country (Western Torres Strait), in particular, is a part of the Great Dividing Range that once 66

long ago formed a land bridge, linking Australia to Papua New Guinea’s highlands. We have high peaks with surrounding rainforest as well. During the big monsoonal rain our rainforests are lively and glow green. Green Turtles crawl up onto the beaches to the fringe of the thick bushes to lay their eggs on the uninhabited little Isles. This is the only time Green Turtles lay. From the minute they lay, goannas are usually not far away to sniff and invade the nest before hunting parties arrive. At the beginning of the year the eggs hatch and a new life cycle of Green Turtles begins. They face threats from scavenging seagulls along the shorelines and predators when they reach the ocean. The rains of the monsoon bring new life for us to share and appreciate our natural surroundings in the wilderness between two masses of land, Papua New Guinea toward the north and Australia to the south.

Ngaambuurrgu gabu (the livingreef), 2007, linocut printed in black ink from one block on paper, handcoloured, 570 x 760 mm

Roy McIvor Born Cape Bedford Mission Tribe Binthi Language Guugu Yimithirr Bio Roy was born at the Cape Bedford Mission, and later moved to Spring Hill. In 1942, Roy, his family and the Cape Bedford Community were forcibly removed from the mission by the military to Woorabinda, near Rockhampton. He spent the final years of his formal schooling in Woorabinda. He was inspired by the wife of a teacher, Mrs Jarrett, who was always supportive of his artistic ability. Roy has experimented with many techniques and concepts for over 40 years, leaving him with a truly unique Indigenous style. He is the chairman of Hopevale

Community Art and Cultural Centre and a stalwart figure in the promotion of Indigenous art and culture at Hopevale. Story In the old days traditional hunters travelled out onto the open sea in dug out canoes to hunt on the islands and reef, diving for crayfish, crabs, fish and turtles. Under the ocean’s surface they found an amazing, rich and complex world of sea creatures living together in a harmonious balance. This was a very important resource for the First people providing essential food for their families, which ensured their survival. The reef is still a most important and magnificent structure, it protects our coastline and is home to many life forms. It provides a sanctuary and home for many beautiful fish and other sea creatures. The loss of the living reef would have an immense impact on many eco systems and is too sad to even contemplate. 67

Fishing story, 2008, linocut printed in black ink from one block on paper, 560 x 410 mm

Carlo Edwards Born Coen Location Pormpuraaw Totem Spear, wild dog Language Mungkan Story I go drag net fishing on the beach with my grandson to catch mullet for bait. Sometimes we catch crabs, catfish, stingrays, bream. We make a big fire under a tree and throw our catch on the coals. We also make tea, sometimes cook rice, scones or damper and have a good feed. In the wet season we get a lot more fish, crab, prawn, stingray, anything. 68

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