Badhulgaw Kuthinaw Mudh

Torres Strait Islander Art from Badu Island
Open the Menu
Home / About Badu Art Centre
Badu Art Centre is one of Australia’s foremost Indigenous Art Centres

About Badu Art Centre

Reflecting our strong cultural traditions and our beautiful relationships with our world we carefully express our love and dedication to the Ocean, to our Island and all of its Creatures and Animals. We show our relationships with the wind, rain, earth, the skies, stars and the sun.

Our life cycle, is the same as the cycle of the world around us.

To SEE our art is to be delighted from another world, a world alive with myths and stories and ancient tradition, and one that is strong and with a clear and powerful voice.

To OWN a piece of our Badu Art is to have a representative of that world come and live in your own, where it will give you great satisfaction, discovery and pleasure.

Our Badu Art is created with love, commitment and with a quiet dedication to our chosen craft. We use a range of visual and creative mediums including printmaking, Bronze and aluminium casting, etching, painting, jewellery, textiles and carving. Badu is a special place, and this specialness - this 'Aislan Kustom' can be felt in all we do here.

 

Our mission

is to create and provide opportunity for Badu Island people to express their Art and in doing so increase and strengthen the awareness of Badu Island Culture.

Badu Island has great creative depth. Some of its artists are known and some are emerging into the public arena. All of their work is powerful.

Badu is where internationally recognised Alick Tipoti call home - along with other artists including Jomen Nona, Joseph Au, Job Kusu, Laurie Nona, Tipoti Nona, Weldon Matasia, Zac Gaidan, Tala Gaidan, Ral Laza, Sarah Gaidan, Taum Rueben and Iona Gaidan (Senior). Of these people - Alick Tipoti, Laurie Nona and Joseph Au were pivotal - together with whole of community support in establishing the Art Centre.

Reflecting their strong cultural traditions, language and links to the sea, Badu artists are producing works using a range of media including printmaking, etching, jewellery, textiles and carving. Our "Badu. Island Art" brand is registered and features on all our quality garments and wearable art.

Badu also is the home of the only indigenous owned Bronze Casting foundry in Australia.

 

Future Plans

Badhulgaw Kuthinaw Mudh has some broad based plans for the next 3-4 years, including:

  • National Casting Workshops
  • Digital Film Making Workshops and Photographic Workshops
  • Interstate exhibitions
  • Artist in residence program
  • Increase particpation and use of the facilities
  • Increase the skills base of all artists to worlds best practices, or their own best practices - its a never ending desire to increase our creative capacities
  • Increase elder engagement
  • Construct a series of non-discretionary purchase items/ 'recession proof' products which are high quality but also a 'must have' for customers to ensure revenues continue regardless of broader economic fluctuation. When economic markets withdraw - often the first casulaties are artists and their sales
  • Exhibit superb quality work as available, and annually if possible - both Nationally in Australia and Internationally
  • Increase employment opportunities for artists in the Art Centre - creating jobs, projects and deeplky emmersing ourselves in our culture

Those plans are fluid and may change over time - however we feel they have remained important since we started - and remain essential for us into the future.

 

Artwork Sales

We encourage you to purchase directly from the Badu Art Centre. This not only ensures authenticity and provenance of the artwork, but importantly maximises the income to the artist by avoiding an additional commission of up to 40% to be taken from the purchase price by a secondary gallery or retail layer.

All artworks have a certificate of authenticity that explains the cultural significance of the work and includes a unique catalogue number, as well as a biography of the artist.

The art centre’s legal status is an Indigenous Corporation - registered in December 2009 with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act). The Indigenous Corporation Number (ICN) is 7302 and the Australian Business Number (ABN) is 40 522 947 582.

We gratefully receive support from the Torres Strait Islands Regional Council, Torres Strait Regional Authority, Queensland Government and Australian Government.

If you have any questions or queries about our Art Centre, our Art, or any other component of the Badu Art Centre please contact our General Manager, Laurie Nona on info@baduartcentre.com.au

Visit our shop here

 

Visiting the Island

Visitors are most welcome to visit the Badu Art Centre and Badu Island but it is important to receive permission from both the Art Centre Chair and the Chair of the Native Title Body (Mura Badhulgal)  on Badu. We are happy to pass your application to visit the island onto Native Title and save you some additional emails and or phone calls.

Please email your request, together with an informal sentence or two on why you want to visit - where you might stay (or if you need advice on that just ask) and we will help you out. 

 

Funding Bodies

We are funded by the following bodies: