Installation View

Torres Strait 8
Formed 2019 in Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait Islands)
Yessie Mosby, Masig (Yorke Island)
Kabay Tamu, Warraber (Sue Island)
Keith Pabai, Boigu (Boigu Island)
Stanley Marama, Boigu (Boigu Island)
Nazareth Warria, Masig (Yorke Island)
Ted Billy, Warraber (Sue Island)
Daniel Billy, Warraber (Sue Island)
Nazareth Fauid, Poruma (Coconut Island)

Zenadh Kes (the Torres Strait Islands & surrounding seas) is experiencing climate crisis and urgent action is needed. The Torres Strait 8 are a collective who have taken a complaint against the Australian Government to the United Nations for failing to protect Zenadh Kes from climate damage, demanding that Australia reduce emissions, and immediately resource adaptation needs. This is the world’s first case of its kind.

For rīvus, the Torres Strait 8 participate with a hybrid art-as-protest work led by Masig cultural practitioner Yessie Mosby. Yessie has carved a series of new totem poles from materials, pigments and fibres found on the Islands. The mythological totems share stories of ancestral beings in deep saltwater. These stories are interconnected with the current climate trauma the communities are experiencing; Mosby says, 'we will be the first climate refugees in this country.' The collective’s participation magnifies the activism of the Our Islands Our Home campaign fighting for justice for the communities of Zenadh Kes and holding the Australian Government to account on climate change policy.