BRIAN ROBINSON | 'Lighten the Darkness' | Linocut

"Lighten the darkness conjures up tales of swashbuckling pirates and adventures on the high seas that could be interpretated as an episode from the omnibus of South Sea Adventures or an Ion Idriess novel. It is in fact an historical account of Christianity coming to the islands of Torres Strait. Throughout the islands, ritual, religion and magic reinforced the repetitive unchanging nature of the subsistence society for the Islanders and entrenched their traditions. Spirits and gods did not exist on a separate level therefore they were not beyond human understanding and were part of everyday life. Totemic objects were created to appease spirits and deities and of all the objects created, the mask used in ceremonial dance was the most important. It acted as a conduit between the spirit realm ensuring human existence and offering protection in return for ritual homage. The first recorded voyage through the Torres Strait by a European was that made by the Spaniard Luis Vaes de Torres in August 1606 during the age of Great Navigations that led Europeans to Oceania. Over the proceeding centuries imperious voyages claimed for their respective crown whatever significant terrestrial landmasses they encountered. As the numerous reports of voyages became public, it wasn’t long before traders began to recognise the possible riches such as turtle-shell and trepang available there. It was, however, the discovery of pearl-shell that lured so many to the area. At about the same time as the pearling industry was beginning to develop, another venture was underway in the Loyalty Islands. The missionaries at Lifu had decided to use Torres Strait as stepping-stones for the spreading of Christianity throughout Papua New Guinea. On Saturday, 1 July 1871, the LMS ship, Surprise, carrying the Reverend McFarlane and Reverend Murray together with South Sea Islander evangelists anchored at Kemus on Erub, a day that has gone down in Torres Strait history as Keriba Lagaw Buiya or Coming of the Light. A warrior named Dabad and his men, ready to defend his land and people, encountered McFarlane who dropped to his knees on the beach before them and presented The Bible. Dabad accepted the book he couldn’t read, and it’s promise of lightening the darkness with the introduction of Christianity and, though he wouldn’t have known it at the time, a new era for the islands of Torres Strait. Once missions were established, traditional cultural practices including sorcery and religious ceremonies, initiation rites, sacred songs and dances were abandoned and were replaced by those of South Sea Island origin. Due to the suppression of traditional practice, the knowledge and skill required for the production of ritual objects declined across the Islands."

BRIAN ROBINSON | 'Lighten the Darkness' | 2022 | linocut | H 1000 x W 1850 mm