Description
Ken Thaiday was born on Erub Island in 1950. His father taught him the importance of dance, and in 1987 he began constructing dance artefacts. Originally made for traditional dance performances, these have evolved over time into elaborate articulated ‘dance machines’, complex string and pulley systems, that are now highly prized by collectors. The works can be grand in scale but composed in the greatest detail, with many small components. Best known are his beizams – shark dance headdresses. We join Ken in his studio in Canopy Artspace, Cairns, and then travel to Erub in the north-eastern corner of Australian territory, the home to Queensland’s remotest community.
