The Erub/Lifou Project
APT9
Established 2011 Erub, Darnley Island, Torres Strait; Queensland, Australia; and Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
The Erub/Lifou Project brings together artist groups from two islands: Lifou in New Caledonia, and Erub (Darnley Island) in the eastern Torres Strait. In 1871, a group of English and Kanak missionaries travelled from Lifou to Erub, an event that is remembered and celebrated annually as the ‘Coming of the Light’ — the introduction of Christianity to the Torres Strait. Descendants of the Kanak missionaries travelled to Erub in 2011 to reconnect with the descendants of family members who had settled there, and a return visit was made by the Erubian descendants to Lifou. The artistic collaboration that developed out of this exchange resulted in a group of charcoal drawings, video installations and woven ghost-net works that were exhibited in Australia in 2013. This project brings the two groups of artists together again to create a new set of works exploring their connections.
The Erub/Lifou Project is a collaboration between QAGOMA, Erub Art Centre, Darnley Island, Torres Strait and the Tjibaou Cultural Centre, New Celedonia.
Erub/Lifou Project est.2011 / Sea Journey: People without borders (detail) 2018 / Charcoal on Fabriano Accademia drawing paper and mural / © The artists / Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA
Artists
Lead artist: Jimmy K Thaiday
Erub artists: Ethel Charlie, Solomon Charlie, Rachael Emma Gela, Florence Gutchen, Nancy Naawi, Robert Oui, Racy Oui-Pitt, Ellarose Savage, Jimmy J Thaiday
Lifou artists: Katia Cimutru, Olivier Delachaux, Emile Iwan, Bisso Iwane, Robert Jene, Humune Jiane, Louise Jone, Pastor Var Kaemo, Harela Kaloie, Peter Kaudre, Motaie Kaudre, Dimei Midraia, Hala Ngazonie, Jymmy Ngoizoni, Atre Pawawi, Kegen Uedre, Edouaid Wamalo, Kevin Xowie
Community consultation/artists: Lorna Lui and Joshua Thaiday
Artist director: Lynette Griffiths
Coordination team manager: Diann Lui
In 1871, English and Kanak missionaries sailed from Lifou, an island in New Caledonia, to Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait, to introduce Christianity. Many stayed, but it was not until 2011 that their descendants met on Erub to explore their common heritage and long-felt bonds.
A group of Erub artists — masters in charcoal drawing — travelled to Lifou in 2013 for a joint art project where the artists traced each other’s outlines in charcoal on long lengths of paper. The artists then recorded visual responses to their shared histories, a process expanded on for APT9.
Despite linguistic challenges, exciting narratives and images emerged relating to the sea journey of 1871. Charcoal figures float within a wave that forms connections with the future, while a woven mat, drawn as an integral part of a wave, symbolises a place to gather to share songs and stories. An image of people sailing away in a European boat, riding high on a wave, stands for washing away traditional life to introduce a new way of living.
As artist Racy Oui-Pitt, whose great-grandfather in 1871 was the cabin boy on the first missionary boat the Surprise, commented:
We are all connected, we made songs and stories, and now we make art . . . we are all under that one roof. We are all Melanesian people, living across the ocean, but Christianity has brought us together, and with today’s technology and our knowledge, we are finding one another again.
The spiritual links between people and their connection with the land and the sea underpin this contemporary project. Today, people travel between the islands by plane; however, the saltwater connection persists and these powerful drawings are testament to the ties that will always bring them together.
