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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261114
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SUMMARY:Oceanic Art Society Forum XIV
DESCRIPTION:The Oceanic Art Society will be holding its Fourteenth Forum on Saturday 14 November 2026 in conjunction with the opening of Billy Missi’n Waikan Thamai\, a national touring exhibition presented by NorthSite Contemporary Arts in partnership with Torres Strait Regional Authority’s Gab Titui Cultural Centre  (TSRA)\, and toured by Museums & Galleries Queensland. \nForum Title: Art and Material Culture of the Torres Strait Islands\nDate: Saturday 14 November 2026\nLocation: Burrinja Cultural Centre\, 351 Glenfern Rd\, Upwey\, Victoria \nKeynote Speakers\n\nDr Leah Lui-Chivizhe\, a cultural historian of the Torres Strait Islands and Scientia Senior Lecturer and researcher at the University of NSW.Her current research focuses on how nineteenth century collections from the region can revitalise and reconnect Islanders with our pre-colonial histories of human and more-than-human relations and contribute to the decolonising practices of collector institutions. Her book\, Masked Histories: Turtle shell masks and Torres Strait Islander people (2022)\, was highly commended for Australian History in the 2023 NSW Premier’s History Awards.\n\nMeriam koskir: objects\, stories and knowledge \nIn this keynote\, Leah will reflect on her collaborative work with Aunty Elsa Day on ‘Meriam koskir: turdi a pe uridli’ for the exhibition\, Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections held in 2024-2025 at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology\, University of Cambridge. \n\nProfessor Ian McNiven\, Research Professor of Indigenous Archaeology at the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre at Monash University in Melbourne and a Chief Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures. He has undertaken anthropologically informed archaeological research in collaboration with numerous Torres Strait Islander communities for 30 years. He is passionate about Aboriginal and Melanesian material culture and how ethnographic objects can help understand the deep past.\n\nFraming the history of Torres Strait art \nThe historical development of European artistic traditions is well understood and critical to the appreciation of associated artworks. But what do we know about the long-term historical development of Indigenous artistic traditions? Indeed\, how do we even frame such histories in the absence of textual records? This presentation explores how museum ethnographic objects and archaeological evidence can be used to help understand the long-term historical development of Torres Strait artistic traditions over the past 1000 years. \n\nDr Jude Philp\, Senior Curator\, Macleay Collections at the Chau Chak Wing Museum\, University of Sydney. Her education from people in Zenadth Kes was part of her PhD in social anthropology. With Anita Herle\, Philp edited Recording Kastom (SUP\, 2020) a publication of Haddon’s field diaries.\n\nArt/History/Life: the collections of A.C. Haddon in Torres Strait.  \nHaddon famously worked with the peoples of Zenadth Kes between 1888 and the 1930s\, and during his major fieldwork in 1888 and 1898 collected thousands of Islanders belongings\, commissioned those he could not purchase\, and took hundreds of photographs. Stored mainly within the British Museum and Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology\, these belongings hold stories old and new\, some personal and some public. This talk focuses is on the public side of the collection and those Islanders who worked closely with Haddon. \n\nDaniel Dow\, Komet and Peibre Tribes of Mer\, Murray Island group (Kemer Kemer Meriam)\, Project Officer\, Repatriation Project at the Museum of Queensland\n\nWhat’s so Secret about the Sacred?  \nIn story and song\, Daniel Dow sheds some light on some of the more mysterious aspects of working with First Nations cultural material. Gain an understanding of the spiritual challenges our First Nations Team face in their work\, and how you can support it. \n\nTheo Tremblay\, Master Printmaker from Cairns\, Queensland. He is a pioneer of collaborative printmaking and publishing\, mentoring Aboriginal and Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait) artists in a range of print over many years. After studying at the Boston Museum School he continued further studies in printmaking at the Ruskin School at Oxford University\, Prahran CAE\, Melbourne and College of Fine Arts at UNSW) In 1977 he co-founded the Australian Print Workshop in Melbourne. From 1981 – 91 he taught drawing and lithography at the Institute of the Arts\, Canberra and established No Fixed Press\, printing collaboratively with artists since that time.\n\nGoing South\, Looking North: Tracking Contemporary Zenadh Kes Printmaking \nTheo will provide a historical overview of the evolution of contemporary printmaking as a major movement in Northern Queensland from the mid-1970s to the present current scale and complexity examining successes\, weaknesses\, opportunities\, threats thus exposed. \n\nAdrian Newstead is one of Australia’s most respected authorities on Aboriginal art. He is the current President of the Aboriginal Art Association of Australia and has been a leading advocate for Indigenous artists and culture for over four decades. Adrian is a  former President of the Art Consulting Association of Australia and Director of Aboriginal Tourism Australia and was a founding member of the Austrade’s Visual Art Export Panel. The author of The Dealer is the Devil – an insider’s history of the Aboriginal art trade\, he has written extensively on the Aboriginal art market and Indigenous cultural affairs for the press\, publications\, and other media.\n\nThe Genesis of the Contemporary Torres Strait Island Printmaking Movement \nSpeaking from his first involvement with regional art programs in Cairns in the mid 1980s\, Adrian Newstead will talk about the initial funding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander printmaking and the empowerment of key pioneers of the movement\, including Dennis Nona\, Alick Tipoti\, Billy Missi\, David Bosun and Victor Motlop\, to preserve their rich culture by drawing upon the ancient tradition of incised mark-making into turtle shell\, wood\, pumice\, and stone\, to decorate ceremonial masks\, drums\, and hunting tools. Adrian purchased the first printing press in the Torres Strait\, which was used by Billy Missi and others in the Kubin community\, on Moa Island. He initiated the Australian Art Print Network to market these and other Australian Indigenous prints to national and international audiences and assisted art centres like Moa Arts with the development of business plans. In 2009\, he helped to revive the career of Ken Thaiday Snr and other Far North Queensland and TSI artists by initiating and funding the establishment of Canopy Arts – the multi-disciplinary art and printmaking studios in Cairns. \n\nWaku – Minaral A Minalay\n\nScreening of David Bridie’s film about Christine Anu (10 mins) about the production of her 2024–2026 project\, Waku – Minaral A Minalay\, her first original album in 20 years. This follows their collaboration on her iconic 1995 debut Stylin’ Up. \n\nBilly Missi’n Wakain Thamai\, official exhibition opening \n\nThis is exhibition honours the late Torres Strait Islander artist Billy Missi (1970-2012)\, born on Mabuiag Island who was deeply influenced by the storytelling\, song\, and dance traditions of his Wagadagam Tribe. Beginning in earnest in the 1990s\, his artistic journey combined traditional carving techniques with modern linocut methods\, creating a unique aesthetic that earned international recognition before his passing in 2012. \nBilly Missi’n Wakain Thamai is a national touring exhibition presented by NorthSite Contemporary Arts in partnership with Torres Strait Regional Authority’s Gab Titui Cultural Centre (TSRA) and toured by Museums & Galleries Queensland. \nWelcome to Country / Smoking Ceremony \nSong and dance performance by Peggy Missi and Maluilgal Dance Troupe comprising relatives of Billy Missi \n\n  \n  \n\nMore details will follow. Save the date as this event is not to be missed. \nImage: Installation view Billy Missi’n Wakain Thamai\, NorthSite Contemporary Arts\, Bulmba-Ja Cairns\, QLD\, 2020.\nPhotographer Michael Marzik. Courtesy of NorthSite Contemporary Arts.
URL:https://www.oceanicartsociety.org.au/event/oas-forum-xiv/
LOCATION:Burrinja Cultural Centre\, Upwey\, Victoria\, Upwey (Melbourne)\, Victoria\, Australia
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ORGANIZER;CN="Oceanic Art Society":MAILTO:info@oceanicartsociety.org.au
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