Ugar Island and Guugu Yimithirr carver Kel Williams unveils a pearl lugger model he has worked on since 2013 at UMI Arts’ 20th anniversary exhibition. Photo: Supplied.
Over the years, UMI Arts in Cairns has been responsible for bringing many talented Cape York and Torres Strait artists to the forefront, with this year marking 20 years of First Nations art celebration at the gallery.
Titled Freshwater Saltwater, 20 legacy artists with 120 works were handpicked for the special milestone exhibition, showcasing the culture and art of Far North Queensland’s diverse communities.
The exhibition, which opened late last month and is currently available for viewing at Mulgrave Gallery, features a range of well-known Cape and Torres Strait names.
Kel Williams, master carver and retired shipwright, unveiled an intricate pearl lugger he had been working on since 2013.
“My grandfather, he was a skipper on the pearl luggers, and he was a diver,” he said.
“When I was a young fella, he’d sit down and tell me stories all about pearl lugging and his diving experience, and he was the one that taught me how to do wood sculptures.”
Mr Williams said he only had photographs to work off, measuring the heights of crew members on board, the mast and the length of the boat, and spending almost an entire day mapping out and drawing the boat.
“Everything’s all to scale, like if I was going to build a real one,” he said.
“The boat itself, you can sail it in the water; it’s got a little rudder, and you can hoist the sails up and down the mast.”
Hope Vale’s Shane Gibson, who has been a member with UMI Arts for 15 years and did his first solo exhibition with them just under a decade ago, said it was an honour to be invited to showcase his work for the special exhibition.
“I feel privileged to actually exhibit some of my paintings for this one,” he said.
“I’m not thinking that I’m that good of an artist, but I think it’s great that UMI Arts thinks my art actually deserves to be exhibited in the anniversary.”
Mr Gibson, whose works are inspired by the stories passed down to him through generations, said UMI Arts had helped him to explore a more contemporary style while honouring his culture.
“When I first started painting, I used to use the ochre colours and those sort of earth tones,” he said.
“With the help of UMI Arts giving us the idea of being contemporary and using all these bold and bright pink colours and reds and all that sort of stuff, I stepped out of my comfort zone, and I think it was a great fit for me.
“The sea country is pretty, it’s vibrant, it’s colourful, so I use those colours to showcase my culture.”
UMI Arts chairperson Connie Rovina said the exhibition was all about bringing the freshwater and saltwater people together and celebrating their differences.
“We have Torres Strait Islander culture and the Aboriginal culture, so there is such a vast type of different story and artwork that goes with it,” she said.
“What this exhibition does is it promotes that difference; we have our own stories, just like everybody else, and we’ve got such cultural strength still up in this region.”
Hope Vale’s Shane Gibson said he was honoured to showcase his work at UMI’s celebratory exhibition. Photo: Supplied.
