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Contact: Napolean Oui
Phone: 07 40394434
Email: napoleanoui@dodo.com.au
Website: www.napoleanoui.com

EMERGING ARTIST ACHIEVES SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE
Napolean Oui showing in CIAF at Cairns Regional Gallery

It’s a significant milestone for emerging talent Napolean Oui to be one of the few independent artists to be selected in this years Cairns Indigenous Art Fair at the Cairns Regional Gallery 19th to 21st August

Born in 1972 of the Djabuganydji group and Djabugay country, Napoleon Phillip Oui is a member of one of 20 traditional tribal groups of the rainforest region of Far North Queensland.
An emerging artist, his language name is Weika, meaning ˜quiet one’, and he has worked for over 19 years as a cultural performer, presenter and educator including working for over 10 years at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park in Cairns.
He has a strong connection to the traditional culture that inspires his paintings. His work includes a strong focus on traditional rainforest shields incorporating the bold designs which are found only in the rainforest region of Far North Queensland.
These traditional designs and his connection to living things inspires his almost abstract contemporary interpretations onto canvas using strong ochre colours highlighted by black outlines as found on traditional shields.
His paintings relate to his traditional clan totems, the natural world of the rainforest – of native figs and water spiders – his culture and his heritage in an authentic and respectful manner.
A member of the Aboriginal Rainforest Art Group (ARAG) of like minded artists who draw inspiration from their traditional cultural heritage, his knowledge and awareness of his culture and his connection to the rainforest both drives and inspires his art.
He has been included in numerous exhibitions including: Blak Flair, KickArts; CIAF; Cairns Regional Gallery; the Tanks Art Centre, Cairns; and the Dreaming Festival, Woodford. His work is held in a number of significant public and private collections.
Main text courtesy of Louise Dauth, Arts Qld