Waanyi and Kurtjar artist Kassandra Savage uses art to reconnect with her history, family and culture that was taken during the Stolen Generations. Photo: Chisa Hasegawa.
Top Cape York and Torres Strait artists will share their personal journeys with cultural connection when UMI Arts’ flagship annual exhibition, Freshwater Saltwater, returns on 3 July.
Bringing together 15 artists and 35 works across painting, textiles, weaving and mixed media, the 13th edition of the exhibition will reflect the cultural diversity, creative excellence and place-based stories that define Far North Queensland’s First Nations communities.
Proud Waanyi and Kurtjar artist Kassandra Savage has prepared two mono print works which represent her connection to both saltwater and freshwater culture.
Her ties to the freshwater came from her great-grandfather of the Waanyi people, while her connection with the saltwater came later through finding out her great-grandmother was part of the Kurtijar group.
The mono prints, a technique she learned from a mentor in Weipa before moving to Mossman, represent her pursuit of finding her place in history and family through art.
A recurring theme in her artworks has been the brolga, an Australian crane known for its elaborate courtship dances.
“I only recently learned that my great-grandmother was from Kurtija, and I also learned that the brolga was her totem, so by representing that, I’m paying my respects to her,” Ms Savage said.
“I didn’t get to meet her; she passed away before I was born. My art is basically trying to retrace my family’s history and retrace their connection to Country and who they were.
“My other great-grandparents were both taken away from the Stolen Generation and taken to Mapoon, so lost a lot of the language, the stories and history. Now, I’m just trying to reconnect with my family, and then tying in some of my own experiences.”
The artist said the process of finding information about her family and where she came from had been an emotional and inspiring journey.
“As I was growing up, I didn’t hear any stories being passed down, so I feel lost a lot of the time, because I don’t have that history, but going back and researching about them, I’ve learned a fair bit,” she said.
“My great-grandfather that was from Waanyi, I don’t know what culture, what his people are — haven’t been able to track that down, because there’s just not enough information — but from Mapoon, he became a skipper, so I’ve got the connection to the saltwater through that as well.
“Finding out all this history … learning those kinds of things is pretty inspiring.”
Robert Tommy Pau highlights the significance of Aber, or sea cucumber, to the Torres Strait people with a colourful, textured rendition. Photo: Chisa Hasegawa.
Torres Strait Islander artist Robert Tommy Pau represented the saltwater people with a rendition of Aber (traditional name for sea cucumber), significant for their role in maintaining the health of the marine ecosystem and for their economic empowerment of Indigenous fishers.
Robert has dabbled with moulding and sculpting in recent years and his colourful acrylic on canvas work utilises various textures to highlight the variety of the valuable creatures.
“One of the important things about them is that they keep the sea floor clean. Our Country, there’s lots of white sand, because there’s lots of sea cucumbers there,” he said.
“They also provide economic incentive to fishermen because it’s a delicacy in Asia.
“There’s lots of different types of sea cucumbers — spiky ones, smooth ones, white ones, black ones, colourful ones, and they’ve all got different textures as well, so tried to replicate some of that.”
UMI Arts executive director Lisa Michl Ko-manggen encouraged visitors to take in the diverse stories, cultures and histories represented at Freshwater Saltwater.
“It gives audiences the chance to learn more about the artists, their homelands, cultures, stories and creative practices, and to gain a deeper understanding of the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art across Far North Queensland,” she said.
“Every artwork offers a connection to place, people and story. Whether visitors are discovering an artist for the first time or adding to an existing collection, Freshwater Saltwater creates meaningful opportunities for cultural exchange and appreciation.”
The textures and colours utilised on Robert Tommy Pau’s Aber represents the wide variety of sea cucumbers in Torres Strait waters. Photo: Chisa Hasegawa.
