My name is Ken Thaiday senior.
I'm from Darnley Island, an eastern island of Torres Strait.
But I live and work in Cairns for many years now.
I am Erub, kebi le.
It's our language, Erub, kebi le, 'Darnley Island boy'.
I'm proud to be one of them.
I make things that move.
Mobilised artefacts.
I don't make things stop, one place.
I put things that pull strings and they move.
It's fantastic.
That's what I do.
Right now, I'm doing my totem, hammerhead shark.
I think it's a very special totem, six-metre hammerhead shark.
Six-metre.
Put him in front, lift the door up.
And this one, I'm going to ride that six metre hammerhead shark for the first time tomorrow
afternoon.
I'll be in the shark.
It will hook on my wheelchair.
My artwork is very important.
I do it every day.
I never stop.
All my art represents myself, no-one else.
I've been using this when I was a little boy.
Dance is very important.
I can describe dance through my artwork.
Today we are going to be, get all the dancing, dancing team.
All my grandchildren, my son lead them up.
I love my Torres Strait family when they dress up.
They wear their island dress.
We call island dress 'Au gemwalli'.
This is a dress of island boy, with a red lap-lap, green, blue coconut leaves around
to dance.
Performing different, so beautiful.
My culture is always with me when I celebrate all the time.
The island music is very important to me, because my father taught everyone to dance.
Yes, he's a choreographer himself.
He is one of the best.
He composed a lot of song, lot of hymns, Island hymns.
And every family, they know the songs, as soon as you sing everyone joins with you.
Even dancing.
Any Island song I sing about my Dad I will have tears.
It truly touched me.
Here, here, here. Come this way.
Here.
Put it there.
Put it here.
Open it slowly.
Don't go fast with that thing.
To your left and lift him up.
Then slide it right down.
Then come right down here.
OK.
Then come front the shark.
I come out every day.
I got my own tools.
Any space, I can find a space and I work, I'll do anything.
To create my artwork, I used to use a lot of bamboo.
Now I use any plastic, any PVC pipe I'll use, which is really good.
When I work with different people they show me lots of things, I learn from the non-Indigenous
brothers, they show me, they use the tools, and that's why encourage you more, to make
my art.
The tools are much easier than your Stanley knife.
The tools make all the magic.
This is glorious to sit in my headdress, my totem, to ride with it for the first time.
The biggest headdress which I ever done in my life,
I'm very proud of that.
It's something special.
I want the people of my family, my friends, to have a look at it.
I'm excited and I hope I can get out and dancing too.
It's our Darnley Island.
Wai Erub it means 'my home'.
Kara ged, 'my place'.
And mara, and 'your place'.
Mine and yours.
Wai Erub kara ged mara.
And it's from Darnley, not from anywhere but from Darnley.
The music, the sound, the singing, the drum, the drum beats,
when you listen to this thing you think way back.
How your grandfather, your great-grandfather, your grandmother, sometimes you're in tears.
It's always like this.
Such every time I see that, it make me think back where I come from, Darnley Island.
When Lord give you vision to do anything, you got the tools, you go for it.
That's why I never stop doing artwork.
I'm going to go until the day I can't do anymore.
And I thank the Lord for that.