Jimmy K. Thaiday from Erub Arts has been named winner of the 2018 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Award at celebrations held on Thursday 26 July at the Gab Titui Cultural Centre, Thursday Island.
Mr Thaiday’s ceramic work Ares Luwas selected from a field of 52 works by artists from communities in the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula area by guest judge, Tina Baum, Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia.
Torres Strait Regional Authority Acting-Chairperson and Member for Ugar, Mr Jerry Stephen, congratulated Mr Thaiday on taking home the Award’s major prize for the first time.
“Mr Thaiday and his colleagues at Erub Arts have been a consistent presence in the Indigenous Art Award since its inception in 2008,” Mr Stephen said.
“We are honoured to be able to share these awe-inspiring works through the exhibition, and we congratulate them on their success in this year’s Award.”
In her comments on the work, Ms Baum described Mr Thaiday’s use of ceramic and resin as ‘ingenious’ and acknowledged his ongoing experimentation and development in the medium.
“Providing an alternative perspective of traditional weaponry, this detailed work is like a contained but segmented story, providing different elements of a bygone tradition,” Ms Baum said.
“Like turning the pages of a book, different areas of the work collectively remind us that cultural knowledge has a meaningful and strong presence today regardless of the medium used to reveal it.”
Renowned Meriam artist Segar Passi was awarded second prize in the Award for his painting Symbol of Peace, described by Ms Baum as a perfectly executed and memorable portraiture.
“A nostalgic reflection of ‘Ailan Life’, the work shows the simple but powerfully symbolic way islanders resolve differences to maintain community relations,” Ms Baum said.
The 2018 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Award is on display at the Gab Titui Cultural Centre until 8 September 2018. Exhibition catalogues are available for purchase through the Centre’s Gallery Shop.
Visit the Gab Titui Cultural Centre website for more – Current Exhibitions