The Torres Strait Islands are located between Australia’s Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea. The region was named after Spanish navigator Luis Baes de Torres, who was the first known European to explore the area when he sailed there in 1606. The Torres Strait Islands cover an area of 35, 000 square kilometres. There are over 100 islands, however, only seventeen are inhabited.
 

In 2000, the Elders of Mau Island agreed to establish a print studio in Kubin Village, The Mualgau Minaral Artist Collective, so that four young printmakers, Dennis Nona, Billy Missi, David Bosun and Victor Motlop, could record the Islands’ special creation stories. These artists utilised their traditional carving skills to create an art movement based on the fine incising of traditional patterning into linoleum and printing on to archival paper.
 

Dhangala
Dennis Nona
Linocut Kaidaral, 2000
450x260 mm, Edition of 75

Gelam Nguzu Kazi- Gelam My Son
David Bosun
Linocut Kaidaral, 2001
460x610 mm, Edition of 85

Gelam My Son is the name the Elders gave to this special exhibition, which marked the first time that traditional Mua Island stories were recorded in a visual medium, since the loss of their material culture to missionaries and collectors before 1900. Gelam, the dugong, is the primary totem for the people of Mua. The name of the exhibition is taken from the legend of Gelam and his mother, Usar.
These artworks were recently purchased by Artbank, the Australian Government’s art rental program. The touring exhibition was prepared in partnership with the Australian Art Print Network, the Kubin Community Council and Artbank.