Ken Thaiday is best known for his articulated headdresses, which feature the birds and sea creatures of Darnley Island in the Torres Strait, particularly his totem, the Beizam or Hammerhead shark, and the Dhari headdress. His work continues the traditions of the Torres Strait despite living in Cairns and increasingly using contemporary materials such as aluminium. In 2003, Thaiday's exhibition at the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane centred around his recreation of a rock-pool fish trap, above which hung his Dhari headdress.
Ken Thaiday began his discussion with Michele Helmrich by explaining the origin of his dancing troupe (the Loza Dancing Club) and the influence of his father.
I'm Ken Thaiday and I'm from Darnley Island in the Torres Strait. My grandfather from Lifu in New Caledonia. My grandmother from Murray Island; my grandfather from Lifu, Lifu Loyalty Island. His name Jimmy Lifu... I'm from the Eastern Island [Group]... We've got Eastern, Western, Central. All different, we speak different languages. Murray Island and Darnley Island, they speak the same language. When you go to the Central Island they speak different from us, Western Islands are close to Papua New Guinea... They go by little dinghy, only few minutes you there. Eastern Island is right on the north, it's longer, maybe 150k or 200. It's a long way from Papua New Guinea...
My father was a well-known artist, performing artist, one of the best in Darnley. When my father started a dancing group in Darnley, he named the club, Loza Club. The Loza Club-they were a couple of old ladies... they called them Loza. So when my father started the dancing group, he named the club, Loza Club... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline