Ken Thaiday Snr: The Sea, The Feather and The Dance Machine

In this two-part documentary film, we join artist Ken Thaiday Snr. in his studio in Canopy Artspace, Cairns and then travel to Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait, home to one of Queensland's most remote communities.

Erub is a place where music and dance are important foundations to cultural practice and creativity, once more on the rise through a revival in artistic activity.

Ken Thaiday Snr. has contemporised the culture of headdress making, mobilising his work with complex systems of strings and pulleys so his dance machines move in ingenious ways and as one with the dance's choreography as the shark's mouth opens and then snaps shut. The works are grand in scale but composed in the greatest detail with many small components.

For Ken, his beliefs and his culture are what make him an important figure as a Torres Strait artist. As a senior man, he has a very important role in passing on cultural knowledge to younger generations of Torres Strait Islanders.

Running time: 62 mins
Audio: English