Brisbane Airport in Australia has unveiled a new Aboriginal art installation in its International Terminal by acclaimed Indigenous artist Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori.
The installation runs the entire length of the arrivals concourse and is part of a wider AU$45m (US$33m) airport development project. The digitally rendered and enlarged imagery by Gabori depicts stories of the tropical seascape, salt pans, mangrove swamps, and reefs on Bentinck Island in Queensland. Gabori died in February 2015 and was recognized as one of the most significant contemporary Indigenous artists of the past decade.
Julieanne Alroe, CEO and managing director for Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC), the airport operator, said, “To have Gabori’s artwork as a prominent welcome to international travelers from around the globe is an immense honor for Brisbane Airport. Her artworks have been collected by leading galleries and collectors and her immeasurable cultural legacy will continue to live on after her passing.”
Professor Nicholas Evans, head of linguistics at Australia National University, said, “Her paintings all depict the landscape of her beloved Bentinck Island, looking vividly back through exile with the far-seeing eye of remembered youth in her own country.”