Cool Hunter Predictions: Gail Mabo

Gail Mabo is a multidisciplinary artist inspired by her experience of culture learnt from both her parents, with her father, Eddie Koiki Mabo known for overturning the terra nullius fiction in Australia’s legal framework. Mabo trained first as a dancer from 1978 to 1987, and worked as a performer and director before studying visual arts and becoming a cultural advisor in schools. Her artwork, which often relates the stories she learnt from family, has been embraced, with her solo exhibition House of Cards, 2022 for Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts touring to Rockhampton Museum of Art in November 2022. She was included in rīvus, the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, 2022 and co-curated Legacy: Reflections on Mabo which has toured nationally since 2019.

“Stories my dad told me go into my artworks,” she says. “Now I’m digging deep into stories that would look good in art form. At the same time I need to connect and get family permissions. Culturally I have responsibilities to uphold. Seeking those permissions helps you along by engaging with deeper conversations, connecting culture and art and maintaining cultural practice along the way.”

In 2021 Mabo undertook a residency at Brisbane’s UAP Foundry, which opened more possibilities to her explorations. Her editioned Tagai was selected as a finalist in the 2022 Telstra NATSIAA Awards in Darwin. It was the first of her works in bronze. 

Her engaging use of Torres Strait knowledge systems continue her father’s advocacy in a way that offers an emotional narrative. A new editioned bronze titled Wer (Star) connects Eddie Mabo’s story of the beach sand with the sky, with its connections to navigation, seasons, hunting and spirituality. 

Mabo’s exhibition House of Cards shows at Rockhampton Museum of Art, Rockhampton until 19 February 2023.