Page 20 - Port Douglas Magazine 41

Q& A
art.

WITH INDIGENOUS ARTIST
DAVINDER HART

A painting commissioned for United Nations gala dinner in Saudi Arabia for world tourism day 2023.

Emu in the sky (Djurrilai Dhinawan) 3x3 Large circular artwork

How long have you been painting and what Katanning. I left just before I turned one and What do you love most about living in Kuku
inspired you to start? found my new home in Adelaide, South Australia. Yalanji & Yirrganydji Country?

I have been creative my whole life, although 10 I spent my childhood and late adolescence there The thing I love most about living in this region

years ago I wanted to take my creative craft a but left for the Northern Territory just before of FNQ is its cultural connections to the land,

step further because of my relationship with my turning 18. I spent two and half years studying sea and the sky. In my cultural learning stories

Aboriginal heritage. I had no cultural knowledge and working in tourism in the Indigenous we are different but so very similar. It’s how I feel
until a particular time in my life which changed traineeships academy for Ayers Rock resort near connected to this region. All over Australia it was

me forever. I met knowledgeable staunch cultural Uluru in the town of Yulara. After my amazing that same experience no matter where I went and

men from all over NSW along my journey and time spent on the red sand I left for the Hunter for all Aboriginal Australians in traditional times
they handed down old stories from creation. Valley region in NSW where I worked in schools, to now. Apart from that it’s the landscapes for

These stories spoke of themes that can benefit workplaces and in communities as a Aboriginal me. The small creeks that run into the big river

not just myself but can be for everyone. They dancer and helping facilitate cultural workshops. system. The open woodland areas of Kuranda,

talk about ethics, morals and values and having a In early 2016 I moved to FNQ, Port Douglas, the amount of diversity within the ecosystem.
responsibility and obligations to all those around to pursue my now art career. Here I connected I feel lucky and extremely privileged to have
us, including our love for Mother Earth which is with Ngarru Fine Art Gallery, built a solid and visited the oldest rainforest in the world while
where we all originated. amazing foundation and the rest is history. It living here.
was in 2023 that I moved to Cairns and during

Where did you grow up? How did you find your that time in FNQ I had a beautiful family of two When was your first big break? How has this

way to Kuku Yalanji & Yirrganydji Country? children to my partner. helped you?

I’m from the Noongar nation, the south west When I was first invited to the table of my

region of Western Australia, Bibbulmun & first gallery, Ngarru, I was fortunate to have a
22 Port Douglas Magazine & Travel Planner