I work in a diverse range of media, including painting, printmaking, sculpture, design and public art, to produce works of art that echo my Indigenous heritage.
My creations are seemingly incongruous concoctions where many motifs and characters are co-opted into the spirit world of the Islander imagination, which are then intertwined with historical narrative, personal history and humour.
Brian Robinson
The Australian National Maritime Museum is proud to launch a major collaboration with acclaimed artist Brian Robinson on a new exhibition called Ur Wayii (Incoming Tide).
Robinson is a Waiben (Thursday Island) artist who also has Maluyligal and Wuthathi heritage. His work explores imagery drawn from ancestral iconography of the Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait), and he uniquely interweaves this with images from popular culture and science fiction.
Brian uses these references as metaphors of colonisation, playfully juxtaposing the ancient and modern to create powerful allegories which examine the moral and psychological impacts of how empire has reshaped ideas about Australia's future.
Matt Poll, Head of Indigenous Programs at the Museum said, 'Brian's art shows the living, evolving, maritime worlds of Zenadth Kes. It is not just aesthetically compelling; it is a living document of resilience. It celebrates the survival of ancient traditions, demonstrates the power of adaptation, reclaims historical narratives, and asserts a confident, contemporary Zenadth Kes identity.'
'Brian's work is an inspiration to many people today, it shows that, despite historical challenges, ancestral knowledges are an important talisman that can be used by community to thrive, innovate, and tell their own powerful stories to the modern world.
Ur Wayii (Incoming Tide) is a multi-disciplinary exhibition spanning printmaking, sculpture, video and graphic design, it is a complex tapestry woven from traditional knowledge, historical narratives, and a keen engagement with the contemporary globalised world.
Ur Wayii (Incoming Tide) opens on September 11 at the
Australian National Maritime Museum
Biography – Brian Robinson
Brian Robinson is of the Kala Lagaw Ya and Wuthathi language groups of the Torres Strait.
Born on Waiben (Thursday Island) and now Cairns-based, Brian is known for his printmaking and public sculptures in which he uses a variety of techniques to produce bold, innovative and distinctive works.
Robinson's work has contributed significantly to his home environs of Cairns through a number of major public art installations including his monumental and iconic stainless steel woven sculptures installed on the Cairns Esplanade in 2003.
Robinson's art reflects the tropical marine environment surrounding Waiben (Thursday Island), in Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait), and the inhabitants of that environment. It is an essential part of his life and culture, imbued with the customs, traditions and lifestyles of the Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The animals from ancestral stories and their presence today are also an integral feature of Robinson's work.
His work has featured in many exhibitions nationally and overseas, including in Berlin, Noumea, Washington DC and New York City. Brian's work is held in major collections including National Gallery of Australia; National Gallery of Victoria; National Museum of Australia; the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art; Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Noumea, New Caledonia; the Australian National Maritime Museum; and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Virginia, USA.
Born
1973, Waiben, Zenadth Kes
Clan and language group
Brian is of the Kala Lagaw Ya and Wuthathi language groups of Zenadth Kes - his ancestral lineage extends back to the Maluyligal people from the Western Islands of Zenadth Kes and the Wuthathi people from the silicon sand dunes at Shelburne Bay on the eastern side of Cape York Peninsula.
About Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait)
Torres Strait Islanders come from the tropical north, where the Coral and Arafura Seas meet, and is known to locals as Zenadth Kes. It is in one of the world's most fragile and intricate waterways.
Zenadth is an amalgamation of traditional language words which services the area's geography and hints at its beauty, and Kes means passage.
Ze = Zey = South |
Na = Naygay = North |
D = Dagam = Place |
Th=Thawathaw = Coastline |
The Strait is a narrow waterway between the land masses of Zey Dagam Dhawdhay [Australia] in the south and Naygay Dagam Dhawdhay [Papua New Guinea] in the north.
The indigenous people of this place were once the Vikings of the tropics – builders of boats, explorers of ocean and experts in the navigational use of stars.
They remain attuned to all manner of heavenly and earthly gifts, as their spirituality is derived from ancestral ties to the land, the sea and the sky.
They named most of the constellations and identified them with the heroic, the beautiful, the fantastic, and the monstrous characters that featured in their epic myths and legends.
This knowledge is passed on to younger generation. These lessons are interwoven through spiritual beliefs, songs, dances, stories and dance paraphernalia.
These stories still live.
