Torres Strait Art & Prints
A selection of paintings showing the styles from this Aboriginal art region - some paintings may still be available for sale, while some may have been sold.
The Torres Strait Islands are a group of 274 small islands which lie in the straits separatingCape York Peninsula in far northern Queensland from the island of New Guinea. They form part of the Australian nation, and their Indigenous artists form a distinctive group within the Aboriginal art regions.
The islands of the Torres Strait extend from the tip of Cape York Peninsula to within 5 km of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) coastline. The outer islands are north of the arbitrary dotted line, and consist of the western islands (Badu, Moa, Mabuiag), the northwestern islands (Boigu, Dauan, Saibai), the eastern islands (Ugar, Erub, Mer) and the central islands (Masig, Poruma, Warraber, Iama).
Recent estimates place the population of the Torres Strait at about 6,500 with 3,500 living on either the administrative centre of Thursday Island or on nearby islands, and the remainder living on 13 of the outer islands. On most of the outer islands domestic pigs are reared as a particularly valued source of meat for ceremonial feasts.
The islands and their surrounding waters and reefs provide a highly diverse set of land and marine ecosystems, with niches for many rare or unique species. Aboriginal artists from the Torres Strait Islands include Dennis Nona, Alick Tipoti and Ricardo Idagi, with distinctive styles reflective of the Melanesian culture of the region.
Further information is available on exhibiting artists on the following links