ROBERT TOMMY PAU | 'Nona Fleet' | 2021 | Painting

ROBERT TOMMY PAU, 'Nona Fleet', 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 76.2 cm 

"The colours are of the Nona Fleet. The Nona Fleet had 11 luggers run by Tanu Nona. This fleet bought enormous revenue to the Queensland state. Tanu ran the fleet on natural ability, intuition and intelligence. He was had limited formal education but built a economical enterprise for the Queensland Government.  "

Courtesy of the artist.

Tommy is a descendant of the Eastern Torres Strait Islands, Australian Aboriginal, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Islander and Asia. He speaks Torres Strait Creole and Australian English. He was taught about the need to keep culture strong through cultural practice by his father. He has a strong commitment to keeping old traditions alive and believes that culture must remain true to the past and move with time to exist in the future. Tommy has considerable experience in the arts and his art forms of choice include printmaking, painting and sculpture.