Australian Parliament’s gift of art
to New Zealand

To mark this year’s centenary of New Zealand as a Dominion, the Australian Parliament will present a special artwork to the New Zealand Parliament.

The artwork will be presented to the Speaker of New Zealand Parliament, Margaret Wilson, by the President of the Australian Senate, Senator Alan Ferguson, at a ceremony in New Zealand’s Parliament House on Tuesday 23 October 2007.

The two metre wide intricate linocut is by young Australian artist Alick Tipoti (born in 1975). He is a renowned printmaker from the Torres Strait Islands to the north of Queensland’s Cape York, who recently was announced as the winner of the ‘Works on Paper’ section of the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award.

The artwork draws heavily upon Alick Tipoti’s Melanesian cultural heritage as a Torres Strait Islander who uses wood carving to express himself.

There are interesting parallels between this artwork and the traditional wood carving techniques of Maori people. They share the ornate style, technical mastery and strong connections with the culture and lifestyle of sea-faring peoples from across the Pacific region.

“We wanted to present this artwork to the New Zealand Parliament to recognise the strong links between our two parliaments, nations and people,” Senator Ferguson said.

“New Zealand becoming a Dominion was a significant step in the life of the nation and the Australian Parliament wanted to acknowledge the centenary of this important event that took New Zealand further along the path to becoming the strong democratic country it is today.

“In selecting a work from a Torres Strait artist, we also wanted to acknowledge the significant cultural traditions of the indigenous peoples of Australia and New Zealand.”

The artwork, Wadth, Zigin Ar Kusikus, depicts an ancestral story of the Torres Strait Islands. Produced in black and white to highlight the intricate designs of the Torres Strait Islands, the large-scale artwork features one of the stories told to Alick Tipoti by his father and other elders about legendary heroes, sea creatures, cultural beliefs and life on the islands.

ENDS

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