Indigenous Conversation Series: Gail Mabo and Dominic White

Hear from Associate Professor Deb Duthie in conversation with artists Gail Mabo and Dominic White, whose work is exhibited in Current.

This conversation will be presented in person and online. Once you have registered, a zoom link will be provided with the order confirmation email.

This event is part of the Indigenous Conversation Series, presented in collaboration with QUT Library and the Faculty of Health.

Gail Mabo 

Born 1965, Gurambilbarra/Townsville, Queensland. Piadram clan from Mer Island, Torres Strait Islands. Lives and works in Townsville.

Gail Mabo commenced her artistic career in 1979 with local Townsville Dance troupe ‘New Blood Dance Troupe’. Between 1983 and 1986 she was enrolled at Sydney’s National Aboriginal and Islander Dance Academy known at the time as the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT). This provided her with the foundation for traditional and contemporary movement, which established appropriate protocols and traditional dance techniques for both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural dance practices. Gail toured with the AIDT throughout New South Wales and nationally.

In 2017 Gail was selected at the feature artist at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair. Mabo won the Innovation Award prize for a work which honoured her father and their Country – Mer Island, in celebration of 25 years of the Mabo decision in the High Court of Australia. In 2017 she curated an exhibition, Legacy: Reflections on Mabo which premiered in her hometown of Townsville and toured Australian for four years through the Federal Government’s Visions of Australia’s funding program. Gail Mabo’s work has featured in exhibitions including the major festival Tarnanthi 2021 in Adelaide; House of Cards at Rockhampton Art Gallery and Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts in Queensland; Under the Stars, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and in the 23rd Biennale of Sydney in 2022.

Dominic White

Born 1970, Wurundjeri Country/Lilydale, Victoria. Palawa, Trawlwoolway, Lives and works in Melbourne.

Dominic White is a Palawa, Trawlwoolway descendant though his birth family. Dominic explores identity and relationship to place, connection to the environment. His work tries to understand the cultural and historical human activities and interaction within a Placescape. This is coupled with the philosophical structure and belief systems that support human behaviours. He works across mediums in the visual arts. He is based in Mornington Peninsula and his work has been shown in exhibitions nationally.

Dominic completed a BA in Fine Art at Monash University. He completed a Graduate Diploma in Visual Art at the Australian National University and a Graduate Diploma in Education (also at Monash). He is part of the Burrinja Indigenous Advisory Committee and has been on the Baluk Arts Board. Baluk arts have represented his work. In 2022 Dominic held his first solo exhibition at Everywhen Gallery in Flinders, Victoria. Dominic teaches part time at Kambrya College, supporting his art making habit and family.

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Image: Gail MABO, Ma’rap Sau (detail) 2023, bamboo, clay, concrete. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Christian Capurro.

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For any queries, contact QUT Art Museum on +61 7 3138 1384 or artmuseum@qut.edu.au