Girramay Traditional Owner
Painter, Potter, Weaver and Shield Maker
Abe Muriata is a Girramay man of the Cardwell Range area. A self-taught weaver of the lawyer cane jawun, Abe explores different techniques to create finely crafted bi-cornual baskets unique to the rainforest people. Abe taught himself the weaving technique from watching his grandmother make them when he was a child and by studying old examples in museums and galleries. He is inspired by the precision of craftsmanship of jawun created by his ancestors. Abe also creates different manifestations of jawun by using other materials like ceramics and recycled and non-traditional materials. Abe also creates traditional rainforest shields made in the traditional manner and painted with traditional ochres and designs. These shields were once used for sorting out disputes and for ceremonial purposes.
Exhibitions:
2017 CIAF Curated Exhibition, Cairns Cruise Terminal
2016 Manggan – gather, gathers, gathering , South Australia Museum, Adelaide
2016 CIAF Curated Exhibition 2016
2015 Encounters, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, ACT
2015 Taranthi Marketplace Adelaide, SA
2015 Salon des Refuses, Darwin, NT (Invited Artist)
2015 Girringun at KPMG, Sydney
2015 Indigenous Australia Enduring Civilisation – British Museum, London
2014 Solid – Cairns Regional Gallery, Qld (Invited Artist)
2014 Chain Reaction – Artisan, Brisbane, Qld (Invited Artist)
2013 West Australian Indigenous Art Award Finalist, Art Gallery of West Australia, Perth2012-3 Gold Coast Art Prize Finalist, Gold Coast City Gallery
2012 Cairns Regional Gallery CIAF exhibition, featured artist
2012 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Cairns Cruise Terminal, Cairns
2011-2 Across Country: 5 Years of Indigenous Aust. Art from the Collection, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
2011 CIAF, Cairns Cruise Terminal, Cairns
2011 National Gallery of Australia Opening Exhibition Indigenous Collection, Canberra
2010 Pay Attention. City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2010 Pay Attention. City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2010 Bicornual Artistry, Solo exhibition at Tineriba Gallery, Hahndorf, South Australia.
2009/10 Featured artist in Bravura: 21st Century Australian Craft and Design, Art Gallery of SA, Adelaide
2010 Featured artist in the 2010 Queensland Indigenous Art Diary McCulloch & McCulloch
2009 Featured artist in the 2009 Queensland Indigenous Arts Marketing and Export Agency (QIAMEA)
2009 DVD Power in Art: Contemporary expressions from leading Indigenous artists of Queensland, Australia;
2009 Floating Life: Contemporary Aboriginal Fiber Art, Queensland Art Gallery
2009 Parking Place, a Kick Arts exhibition in Cairns, August
2009 Featured artist in Jettison Wove 2008 exhibition at Artisan, Brisbane. This exhibition then toured Queensland in 2009-2010. As part of the touring program Museums & Gallery Services co-ordinated a series of regional weaving workshops in which Abe participated.
2009 Tutor at Traditional Owner weaving workshop at Mona Mona Mission (Kuranda).
2006 Wabu-Barra: Art from the rainforest exhibition at Townsville Cultural Centre
2006 Artist Residency at Institute of Modern Art, Judith Wright Centre for performing arts, Brisbane, October 2006.
2005 Woven Purpose, An exhibition of weavings by Jumbun, Aurukun and Lockhart River Communities, CQ Gallery, Brisbane.
2005 Jawun,acquired by South Australian Museum.
2005 Jawun 75.5 x 43 x 30cm, acquired for permanent collection at Queensland Art Gallery.