Gail Mabo (born 1965) is an Australian

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

who has had her work exhibited across Australia. She is the daughter of land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo and educator and activist

Bonita Mabo Ernestine Bonita Mabo (née Neehow; – 26 November 2018), was an Australian educator and activist for Aboriginal Australians, Torres Strait Islanders, and Australian South Sea Islanders. She was the wife of Eddie Mabo until his death in 1992. ...

. She was formerly a dancer and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

Early life and education

Mabo was born in 1965, the daughter of Eddie and Bonita Mabo. She is of the Piadram language group and clan of Mer (Murray Island), an island of the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their tot ...

group, which is part of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. She attended the first school for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

, which had been opened by her father.

Arts education

Mabo attended Kingscliff TAFE in Sydney from 1998 to 2003, and from 2004 went to the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE in

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

, achieving a Certificate IV in Visual Arts in 2005, followed by a Diploma of Visual Arts in 2007. She studied dance at the

Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT) was the first dance company used to train Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students on their dancing career, and grew into a performance group. Originating in the National Aboriginal and Islander ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

from 1984 to 1987.

Career

Performing arts

Before beginning her studies in art, Mabo had a career in dance,

choreography Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, and acting. Her performing credits include Tracey Moffat's short films ''Nice Coloured Girls'' (actor) and ''Watch Out'' (dancer and choreographer), and the 1991 Sydney production of Jimmy Chi's '' Bran Nue Dae''. In 2005 she directed ''Koiki'', a stage performance based on the life of her father.

Visual art

Her work has since been exhibited in institutions across the country in both solo and group exhibitions. She is a founding member of the Murris in Ink artist collective, a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists in North Queensland. In 2014, Mabo was commissioned to create two huge

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s at the

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

's Singapore campus, using

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of relief printing in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief printing, relief surface. A design i ...

printing. In 2017, she was the featured artist at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, and her work honouring her father and her Mer home was bought by the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

, and earned an Innovation Award. During 2017 and 2018, she co-curated ''Legacy: Reflections on Mabo'', an exhibition that was mounted in Townsville in 2019, followed by a four-year tour across the country. In the 2021–2022 Tarnanthi exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, her sculpture named ''Tagai'', constructed of bamboo sticks and string and a representation of the

Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

, was mounted on a wall. it is based on the story of Tagai, which is part of Torres Strait Islanders' tradition al belief system, and passed down through the generations. It is important for

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

, and seen as a man in the constellation of the Southern Cross, with his left hand pointing south. Her interactive 2021 exhibition, ''House of Cards'', was held at the Umbrella gallery in

, and explored Mabo's home, memories and family relationships. Mabo has been experimenting with cast bronze, empowered by her 2021 residency at Urban Art Projects.

Other roles

She has also worked with schools in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

as a cultural advisor, and is known as a

public speaker Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

, often serving as the family's designated spokesperson.

Personal life

Mabo is the mother of

triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of a multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such births ...

Collections

Mabo's work is held by a number of public and private collections, including: *

Artbank Artbank is an Australian art rental program established in 1980 by the Australian Government. The program supports contemporary Australian Visual artists, artists by purchasing their Art, artworks and renting them to public and private sector cli ...

- Australia-wide * Art Gallery of South Australia,

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

* Australian High Commission, Singapore * Australian Trade Commission, Singapore * Australian Maritime Museum, Sydney *

Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (branded as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman ...

Collection – Queensland *

Collection, Townsville, Singapore and Cairns * Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin *

* National Gallery of Australia,

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

* QAGOMA,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

* Townsville City Council *

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university in its current form was founde ...

References

External links

Gail Mabo Oral History Interview
State Library of Queensland
Alf Wilson photographs of Palm Island and area events
State Library of Queensland. Includes various digital photographs of Gail Mabo at events such as Tony Abbott's visit to the Torres Strait Islands in 2015 and the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of the Mabo High Court Victory
Hi, I'm Eddie: Mabo 30th anniversary podcast
State Library of Queensland. Podcast about the Mabo High Court Case including interviews with Gail Mabo {{DEFAULTSORT:Mabo, Gail 1965 births Living people Artists from Queensland 21st-century Australian women artists 21st-century Australian artists Indigenous Australian artists