Gail Mabo

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Gail Mabo
Born1965
Queensland, Australia
Parents

Gail Mabo (born 1965) is an Australian visual artist who has had her work exhibited across Australia. She is the daughter of land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo and educator and activist Bonita Mabo. She was formerly a dancer and choreographer.

Contents

Early life and education

Mabo was born in 1965, [1] [2] the daughter of Eddie and Bonita Mabo. She is of the Piadram language group [3] and clan of Mer (Murray Island), an island of the Torres Strait Islands group, which is part of Queensland, Australia. [4]

She attended the first school for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Townsville, which had been opened by her father. [1]

Arts education

Mabo attended Kingscliff TAFE in Sydney from 1998 to 2003, and from 2004 [2] went to the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE in North Queensland, achieving a Certificate IV in Visual Arts in 2005, followed by a Diploma of Visual Arts in 2007. [1]

She studied dance at the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre in Sydney from 1984 to 1987. [1]

Career

Performing arts

Before beginning her studies in art, Mabo had a career in dance, choreography, and acting. [2] [5]

Her performing credits include Tracey Moffat's short films Nice Coloured Girls (actor) and Watch Out (dancer and choreographer), and the 1991 Sydney production of Jimmy Chi's Bran Nue Dae . [1]

In 2005 she directed Koiki, a stage performance based on the life of her father. [1]

Visual art

Her work has since been exhibited in institutions across the country in both solo and group exhibitions. [1] She is a founding member of the Murris in Ink artist collective, a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists in North Queensland. [3]

In 2014, Mabo was commissioned to create two huge murals at the James Cook University's Singapore campus, using linocut printing. In 2017, she was the featured artist at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, and her work honouring her father and her Mer home was bought by the National Gallery of Victoria, and earned an Innovation Award. [3]

During 2017 and 2018, she co-curated Legacy: Reflections on Mabo, an exhibition that was mounted in Townsville in 2019, followed by a four-year tour across the country. [3]

In the 2021–2022 Tarnanthi exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, her sculpture named Tagai, constructed of bamboo sticks and string and a representation of the Southern Cross, was mounted on a wall. it is based on the story of Tagai, which is part of Torres Strait Islanders' tradition al belief system, and passed down through the generations. It is important for navigation, and seen as a man in the constellation of the Southern Cross, with his left hand pointing south. [4]

Her interactive 2021 exhibition, House of Cards, was held at the Umbrella gallery in Townsville, and explored Mabo's home, memories and family relationships. [6]

Mabo has been experimenting with cast bronze, empowered by her 2021 residency at Urban Art Projects.[ citation needed ]

Other roles

She has also worked with schools in New South Wales as a cultural advisor, [7] and is known as a public speaker, [1] often serving as the family's designated spokesperson. [8]

Personal life

Mabo is the mother of triplets. [1]

Collections

Mabo's work is held by a number of public and private collections, including:

Related Research Articles

<i>Mabo v Queensland (No 2)</i> 1992 High Court of Australia decision which recognised native title

Mabo v Queensland is a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised the existence of Native Title in Australia. It was brought by Eddie Mabo against the State of Queensland and decided on 3 June 1992. The case is notable for being the first in Australia to recognise pre-colonial land interests of Indigenous Australians within the common law of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Mabo</span> Torres Strait Islander and land rights activist for indigenous Australians

Edward Koiki Mabo was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised that indigenous rights to land had continued after the British Crown acquired sovereignty and that the international law doctrine of terra nullius was not applicable to Australian domestic law. High court judges considering the case Mabo v Queensland found in favour of Mabo, which led to the Native Title Act 1993 and established native title in Australia, officially recognising the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torres Strait Islanders</span> Ethnic group of Australia

Torres Strait Islanders are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal peoples of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped with them as Indigenous Australians. Today there are many more Torres Strait Islander people living in mainland Australia than on the Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Island, Queensland</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Murray Island in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia. The island is part of the Murray Island Group in the Torres Strait. The town is on the island's northwest coast and within the locality of Mer Island. The island is of volcanic origin, the most easterly inhabited island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, just north of the Great Barrier Reef. The name Meer/Mer/Maer comes from the native Meriam language. In the 2016 census, Murray Island had a population of 453.

Mabo may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meriam people</span>

Melanesian Meriam people are an Indigenous Australian group of Torres Strait Islander people who are united by a common language, strong ties of kinship and live as skilled hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans on a number of inner eastern Torres Strait Islands including Mer or Murray Island, Ugar or Stephen Island and Erub or Darnley Island. The Meriam people are perhaps best known for their involvement in the High Court of Australia's Mabo decision which fundamentally changed land law in Australia - recognising native title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Sea Islanders</span> Australian descendants of Pacific Islanders

South Sea Islanders, formerly referred to as Kanakas, are the Australian descendants of Pacific Islanders from more than 80 islands – including the Oceanian archipelagoes of the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Gilbert Islands, and New Ireland – who were kidnapped or recruited between the mid to late 19th century as labourers in the sugarcane fields of Queensland. Some were kidnapped or tricked into long-term indentured service. At its height, the recruiting accounted for over half the adult male population of some islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saibai Island</span> Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

Saibai Island, commonly called Saibai, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, located in the Torres Strait of Queensland, Australia. The island is situated north of the Australian mainland and south of the island of New Guinea. The island is a locality within the Torres Strait Island Region local government area. The town of Saibai is located on the north-west coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, Saibai Island had a population of 465 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moa Island (Queensland)</span> Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

Moa Island, also called Banks Island, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago that is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Thursday Island in the Banks Channel of Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is also a locality within the Torres Strait Island Region local government area. This island is the largest within the "Near Western" group. It has two towns, Kubin on the south-west coast and St Pauls on the east coast, which are connected by bitumen and a gravel road. In the 2016 census, Moa Island had a population of 448 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darnley Island (Queensland)</span> Island in Queensland, Australia

Darnley Island or Erub in the native Papuan language, Meriam Mir, is an island formed by volcanic action and situated in the eastern section of the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Torres Strait Islands and is located near the Great Barrier Reef and just south of the Bligh entrance. The town on the island is also called Darnley, but the locality is called Erub Island, both being within the local government area of Torres Strait Island Region. In the 2016 census, Erub Island had a population of 328 people.

Ernestine Bonita Mabo, was an Australian educator and activist for Aboriginal Australians, Torres Strait Islanders, and Australian South Sea Islanders. She was the wife of Eddie Mabo until his death in 1992.

Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT) was the first dance company used to train Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students on their dancing career, and grew into a performance group. Originating in the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association, it was based in Sydney, New South Wales, and operated from 1976 to 1998.

Bindi Cole Chocka is an Australian contemporary new media artist, photographer, writer and curator of Wadawurrung heritage.

<i>Mabo: Life of an Island Man</i> 1997 Australian documentary film by Trevor Graham

Mabo: Life of an Island Man is a 1997 Australian documentary film on the life of Indigenous Australian land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo, directed by Trevor Graham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Watson</span> Australian artist

Judy Watson is an Australian Waanyi multi-media artist who works in print-making, painting, video and installation. Her work often examines Indigenous Australian histories, and she has received a number of high profile commissions for public spaces.

Brenda L. Croft is an Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, writer, and educator working across contemporary Indigenous and mainstream arts and cultural sectors. Croft was a founding member of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative in 1987.

Tarnanthi is a Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art held in Adelaide, South Australia, annually. Presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in association with the South Australian Government and BHP. It is curated by Nici Cumpston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masig Island, Queensland</span> Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

Masig Island is an island and locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Masig Island had a population of 283 people.

Naomi Hobson is an Aboriginal Australian artist of southern Kaantju and Umpila heritage from Lockhart River, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. She works in many media, including painting, photography and ceramics. She started exhibiting in 2013.

Alick Tipoti, whose traditional name is Zugub, is a Torres Strait Islander artist, linguist, and activist of the Kala Lagaw Ya people, from Badu Island, in the Zenadh Kes. His work includes painting, installations, printmaking, sculpture and mask-making, and is focused on preserving the culture and languages of his people.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Gail Mabo". Indigenous Law Centre . University of New South Wales . Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gail Mabo, b. 1965". Design and Art Australia Online . 4 May 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Both Ways: Gail Mabo". Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Gail Mabo". The Art Gallery of South Australia . Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "Mabo Art". jcu.edu.au. 21 May 2009. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "House of Cards". Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Social Justice and Human Rights Issues: A Global Perspective". csu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "Mabo's gift". The Sydney Morning Herald . 2 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 September 2014.
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