Michael Boiyool-Anning

Michael Anning is recognized as the foremost indigenous artist in QLD to rejuvenate the unique tradition of shield, sword and firestick making. He became interested in traditional artefacts and wood carving at the age of thirteen. He began by selling items to tourists until an Arts Grant allowed him to focus wholeheartedly on his craft. In 1989, he won the Wanjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Through his winning piece, Dulgubarra, Rainforest Dwellers, Anning said he hoped to create awareness of the rainforest people who, like his grandfathers, once lived and roamed beneath the dark green rainforest canopy of the Atherton Tablelands. The shields are cut from the large spreading roots of the softwood fig tree, while swords, firesticks and smaller artefacts are cut from the branches. They are carved by hand over time and then decorative designs are incised and painted on with ground earth ochres and charcoal. The totemic designs represent aspects from traditional life including lightning bolts, boomerang and shell patterns, and fish net, snake and water skater motifs. They are thought to provide protective powers. These shields and swords required much strength and skill to wield, both in the ritualized combat of ceremony and in real tribal battles, sometimes left stained with blood to increase the warrior’s standing. Anning provides continuity with his cultural history, the red ochre dots that adorn his swords, he says, paying tribute to blood spilled more recently when his people were displaced from the rainforests. Anning’s unique sculptural carvings have appeared in exhibitions in Australia and overseas. He is represented in numerous public and private collections.