My country, I still call Australia home: Contemporary art from Black Australia

Your prints often feature stories about ancestral warriors and head hunters. What is it about this aspect of Torres Strait history that attracted you? Ancestral warriors and headhunters are dominant figures in Torres Strait Islander culture. From a young age we are told stories of our ancestors. Our elders retell stories told to them when they were young, and so on. Headhunting and collecting skulls was for trade with the coastal villages of Papua New Guinea for canoes – it was a strong tradition. Our interpretations of ancestral figures are strongly supported by stories told by our elders and by pictures taken in the late nineteenth century by anthropologist AC Haddon. We are very proud of our history and continue to retell stories through art, dance and songs. Why has printmaking been adopted by Torres Strait Islander artists in recent decades? Torres Strait Islander people are not printmakers. Naturally we are carvers. The first thing that attracted me personally is the carving side of printmaking, especially lino cutting. I’ve always felt printmaking is the best way to obtain a traditional feel through art on paper. Printmaking through my TAFE years, from Thursday Island to Cairns, then at the School of Art at the Australian National University, helped me contribute towards putting Torres Strait Island art on the map. The most important thing that supports my art practice is cultural knowledge. Without that, our art would not be connected to our culture and would have no significance. The next wave of artists showing ancestral figures of headhunters may not have deep knowledge of culture, but they have today’s elders and artists to support them. You are involved in dance, ceremony, language and re-telling stories. Do you see this as important for your identity and for future generations? First and foremost, language is the core of culture, its identity. A culture struggles without its language. This is what I am about, as a Torres Strait Islander artist. To me, maintaining dance is most significant of all. It’s about connecting with the land and the spirits of the past. Performing dances allows you to travel into another realm. An art work or an artefact is dead when displayed in museums or institutions. These can only be brought to life when accompanied by chants, songs and performances. All these are about storytelling and reviving our culture. Efforts are made to revive the language throughout the Torres Strait because it is fading out. Since I've started promoting mask-making in the Torres Strait Islands, especially the western islands, I've established my own group called the Zugubal dancers. This was simply to bring all my work to life, to give people a visual understanding of what we are trying to say about our work and the culture it comes from. Protocols are followed to ensure that ancestors guide me in my art, reviving ancient culture. And language is the key to this revival. Interviewed by Simon Wright, Assistant Director, Programming, March 2013 Alick Tipoti Kala Lagaw Ya people an interview Alick Tipoti Kala Lagaw Ya people QLD Kuyku Garpathamai Mabaig 2007 Linocut, ed.4/45 Purchased 2008. The Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant 81