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NAVIGATE: The Exhibition Prints | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 
The Mualgal Minnarral is a recently formed collective comprising four men with various degrees of training as printmakers and artists who have developed an art workshop in Kubin Village on Moa, the largest of the Western Torres Strait islands. The group is led by Dennis Nona, a young man still in his late 20’s, who has been described as being the artist who has ‘set the standard for the development of the new contemporary Torres Strait Islander art movement’. 1 Beside Nona, a Badu Islander, the group includes Billy Missi and Victor Motlop from Mabuiag Island and David Bosun from Moa Island. There are more than 100 islands in the Torres Straits covering a total area of over 35,000 square kilometres of which approximately 3 percent is land, 6 percent tidal reef flats and 91 percent mainly shallow open seas.2 They are generally divided in to four groups according to their geographical position and geological make up. The Western Islands comprise Mabuiag, Pulu, Badu and Moa to the North and Waiben (Thursday), Ngurupai (Horn), Muralag (Prince of Wales) and Tuined (Possession) in the South. It is interesting to note that the northern group tend to be referred to by their names in the native Kala Lagaw Ya language while the southern group are far better known by the names given them by the English. The Kala Lagaw Ya language is most closely related to the Pama Nungan language of Indigenous people of Cape York on the Australian mainland. 3 Today however the people generally communicate in the lingua franca of Torres Strait Kriol. The Western islands of the Torres Straits are in effect a continuation of Australia’s great dividing range which terminates behind the present day Papuan Village of Mabudauan. They are characterised by a weathered granite appearance and are surrounded by extensive mangroves with shallow seas and vast reefs and sandbanks. They contrast to the Eastern island group which are volcanic remnants, while the Northern islands are more recent, being formed from silt deposits from Papuan rivers. Those in the centre of the straits are small having evolved from low lying coral. 4 Extensive seagrass beds occur in the western and northern areas, the habitat preferred by large numbers of dugongs. The clear waters and coral reefs to the east are rich fishing grounds. These geological divisions roughly translate in to cultural groupings with the Western islanders leading a hunter gatherer lifestyle relying heavily on the land and mangroves as well as shellfish, dugong, turtle gathered from the surrounding shallow waters. The Northern islanders had greater contact with the people from Papua and were more greatly reliant on the farming of taro and yams. The Central islanders relied heavily on the sea as well as inter island trade while in the East the rich volcanic soils led to extensive agricultural practice. 
The Torres Straits were named after the first European explorer in the region Luis Vaes de Torres who sailed through the Strait in 1606. Cook (1768-71), Bligh and Flinders charted the reef waters prior to colonial expansion in to the region. From the 1860’s European, Polynesian, Malaysian and Japanese traders (amongst others) dived and collected on the reefs and islands for sandalwood, turtle shell, pearl and beche de mer. 5 By 1880 the entire Torres Straits had been converted to Christianity during, what became known in the islands, as ‘the Coming of the Light’ and as the islanders belief systems changed, so too did their material culture. Artefacts formerly used in ceremonies and rituals were no longer relevant. For the new Christian ceremonies artefacts changed to wooden crucifixes, candlesticks and other objects that indigenised Christian practice. 6 So too did the dance costumes. In many cases the missionaries forbade the production and use of traditional artefacts. The production of ceremonial icons was tabooed and eventually ceased. 7 Next NAVIGATE: Back to top | The Exhibition Prints | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
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Contact Us @ sales@aboriginalartprints.com.au or Telephone (+61) 2 9332-1722 © Australian Art Print Network © AIATSIS & ATSIC from the Biographical database of Australian indigenous visual artists published by Discovery Media. |
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