original aboriginal |
artists/craftsmen |
Naiuwa didgeridoo maker is an indigenous family concern. The family's traditional aboriginal heritage includes
- on one side, the Yidinji Aboriginal people from the Babinda Boulders area, south of Cairns in Far-North Queensland, and
- on the other side, the Budjula and Kabi-Kabi Aboriginal people from South-East Queensland, including Frazer Island.
Over the years, producing only top quality didgeridoos, the Naiuwa name became a trade mark in Europe and America. Each didgeridoo is tested for sound quality, whereupon it is individually designed and decorated with a unique combination of burning, painting and dot-painting. The blend of these three techniques gives an outstanding dimensional appearance to the noticeable aboriginal art on the didgeridoos, a uniqueness. These didgeridoos are of a distinctive brand, still every one is an individual piece, that gives these instruments their spirituality, their élan vital.
You will find Naiuwa didgeridoos on sale in Europe and North America, but for the best prices you have to check our didgeridoo sale page. Naiuwa, the well-known didgeridoo maker also produces some very nice carved didgeridoos and some rarities, like twin didgeridoos for didgeridoo collectors.
Read about the environmentally friendly harvesting methods employed by the Naiuwa family.
Aboriginality is a husband and wife partnership.
Matt takes over the sticks from the termites (white ants) and works just as hard as they did, to turn the sticks into didgeridoos. The bark of the tree has to be removed and then smoothed for burning. After that it is given protective coats of sealer and a mouthpiece is formed out of pure bees wax. All this is done expertly by Matt, the didgeridoo maker.
Judy gives the didgeridoo an artistic appeal. The burnt-in aboriginal art on her didgeridoos, is of her own unique style stemming from her Aboriginal heritage. She comes from the Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal tribe, which used to live north of Cairns. Her artistic name, Ngamu-Kari is her grandfathers name and it means No Mother. With this name she signs all her artwork, accomplished with an Authenticity Label.
Judy creates authentic Aboriginal art on good quality didgeridoos. Her burnt-in artwork blends harmoniously with the natural colour of the wood. It takes of nothing from nature, on the contrary, it enhances the natural look and feel of the final work, the all natural and authentic didgeridoo.
And now Keisha, their daughter, follows the tradition with a healthy sense to simple, natural beauty.
Native Creations is a partnership and family. Garth Murgha and Estelle Tranby are Native Creations; a small business located in Cairns and producing superbly crafted Aboriginal artifacts in limited quantities.
Garth handicraft the didgeridoos as well as many other traditional Aboriginal instruments and tools, and then hands them to Estelle who applies her skills as an artist to those same pieces. The results are pieces of outstanding quality with art that is meticulous in it's execution and yet draws from the most traditional of local North Queensland aboriginal sources.
Estelle Tranby is an aboriginal woman from the Djabugay tribe from the Kuranda area just inland from Cairns in Far North Queensland. This is the tribe that is closely associated with the world famous 'Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park' in Cairns.
Estelle has fortunately inherited many of her artistic skills from her father, Enoch Tranby, who is also a recognized artist.
Estelle has been painting seriously for over ten years and now enjoys far reaching recognition for her work. Her style is very much traditional Djabugay in its origins, and yet manages to avoid repetition in any way. In fact, one of the special merits of Estelle's work is the special individuality of every piece that she paints
Garth forms the other side of the partnership. He is well skilled in fashioning beautiful artifacts from basic raw materials. Originally from the Kunganji tribe around Yarrabah near Cairns, he has learnt many of the traditional aboriginal skills. To see the beauty of one of his finished artifacts or didgeridoos carved from the rough trunks of a sapling, is to appreciate his craftsman-ship. Garth is particularly proud of the finished quality of his pieces, which are a perfect match for Estelle's meticulous and lively artwork.
Together Garth and Estelle's 'Native Creations' is a unique business that is creating great examples of traditional Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft.
Kinjaii (kin-ji-ee) means younger sister in the Yedinjie language. The name was given to her by an elder of the tribe. Her origin lies with the Kuku Yalanji tribe on her mothers side and the Yedinjie on her fathers side.
She actually comes from a family of artists. Her parents owned the original Aboriginal Art Gallery in Cairns many years ago. Kinjaii has practiced painting since she was thirteen and is experienced in all forms of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal art. She draws on the simple figurative styles so characteristic of the cave paintings of Cape York. Spirit ancestors and animal shapes and the feared quinkas all contribute to the collage effect of her style.
She has exhibited in Art Galleries in Canberra, Brisbane and in Cairns she had a joint exhibition with Pircy Trezice and Dick Roughsey.
Agnes Nampijinpa Fry is a 35 Years old woman, mother of five. She lives a traditional lifestyle at Nyirippi, 100 Km North-West from Alice Springs.
Agnes has dot paintings in Canberra Art Gallery, in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and oversees in England, Holland and Germany among others. She is an artist of the future - her work is in great demand.
The dot painting, Wartungurku Dreaming or Butterfly Dreaming depicts the transformation of the witchetty (witjuti) grub into a butterfly: a symbolic expression of the growing up of young people and their initiation into manhood. It is an "earthy painting" as Wandjuk Marika would put it!
Michael Huddleston Garmarroongoo is the son of a traditional owner of Burranga, also known as Ruin City. Most of his art work is based on this land. All the animals are painted in traditional ways of this land and as they appear in Dreamtime stories. Michael has been painting for about 12 Years and paintings sold throughout Australia and overseas.
Margaret Joy Go Sam is a descendant of the Dyribal tribe on her father's side. The mother's side comes from the Ngadjon tribe. Both tribes are from Tableland. She is proud of her indigenous ancestry.
She started paint in 1989 when she joined the artists who formed The Tableland Aboriginal Arts and Crafts Association (TAACA). Her paintings depict the lifestyle of Aboriginal people, how they live, their way of life, the types food they eat, and the types of animals they hunted. She gives her own interpretation and presentation to the traditional stories that were handed down from the traditional elders.
Marilyn Abbott was born at Alice Spring in 1973 and started to paint in 1988 while living with her mother at Nyirrpi. Marilyn now lives in Alice Springs, she has two young children.
Marilyn is following in her mother Polly's footsteps. She paints Bush Tucker Dreamings. These dreamings have been passed on to Marilyn by her Grandfather, Mother and Father. These are her dreamings: "Yuparli"(Bush Banana), "Mukaki"(Bush Plum), "Yunkuranyi"(Honey Ant), "Ngalkardi"(Witchetty Grub), "Yala"(Bush Potato).
Majella Anderson is an indigenous artist who produces contemporary cultural images of animals from land and sea.
She is a descendant of the Gungarri (goongarri) people from the Augathella/Charleville area of Queensland.
Majella is currently producing paintings exclusively on locally made banana paper, keeping her work simplified to enhance its natural fibre textures. Majella's original works on canvas contain bright background colours, enhancing the creatures detailed.
"I acknowledge the special gift of painting that has been passed from my mother's heart and hands to mine. It is now time to use that gift."
Chris Kauage is from Simbu Province, in the Papua New Guinean Highlands. His family are some of the best known painters in Port Moresby. His brother and adopted father is the veteran painter Mathias Kauage.
Chris is a talented young man with a style of his own, but his painting is obviously influenced by his famed father. In the School of Arts in Port Moresby his art trainer vas Joe Nalo, an other renowned artist..
In PNG, different areas are known for different artistic talents, i.e. Sepik for carvings, Trobriands for inlaid woodwork, Huli for head/wig artwork, and Simbu for painting. Chris is a predestined painter, also a talented one.
Daniel Wilson (Jungala) Tribe/Group: Lurijta
Joshua Bangara Language: Duha, Location: West Arnhemland
Aboriginal art is mostly sold as decoration on Aboriginal artifacts such as boomerangs, pottery; on Aboriginal musical instruments: didgeridoos, emu callers, bullroarers, clapsticks, and less on canvas, although aboriginal art on canvas can fetch much higher price.