Members of the Torres Strait Kenkyūkai (Research Group) in Nachi-Katsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Photographer: Hiroyuki Matsumoto, Private Collection. Photo: Courtesy of Professor Hiroyuki Matsumoto.
Between 1975 and 1979, a team of 10 Japanese scholars documented the Torres Strait Islands. They charted the geography with over 100 hand-drawn maps, travelled to every inhabited island, and visited Papua New Guinean and Queensland coastal settlements, taking thousands of photographs and making audio recordings.
Fifty years later, a selection of these photographs from the National Museum of Ethnography, Osaka, Japan, has been assembled for the first time for public display. The name, Zenadth Kes, is employed throughout the exhibition, instead of the colonial name Torres Strait, which was taken from the Spanish explorer Luis Váez de Torres, who sailed in the area in 1606.
The photographs present a time capsule of a society under stress and experiencing profound change, where patterns of traditional life were being abandoned and new, modern structures were emerging. Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia in 1975, and new political borders were proposed that would divide traditional communities united through kinship and maritime trade. Additionally, the pearling industry had collapsed, and new fisheries began to emerge.
Border Will Not Change, Professor Yabu’uchi on Saibai during the Border Not Change movement led by Zenadth Kes leaders at the time. Photo: Hiroyuki Matsumoto.
Housing was also changing from the hand-built structures of coconut leaf, mangrove wood, and bamboo, with the occasional addition of corrugated iron sheets, to the more permanent dwellings of government-funded housing estates. Plumbing also began to appear, and buckets were replaced by running water.
In recorded conversations with Elders, a recurrent theme was that “These were hard times, but these were good times”. Photographs frequently capture the existence of strong family units.
In one of the quoted texts, Elders recall that “no fish, seafood, or dugong was distributed until every family brought an empty dish, reminding us that culture was strong because sharing was strong”.
The physicality of gardens being tended by hand, with food grown and shared, was, by the late 1970s, being replaced by small boats with outboard motors, electricity, and domestic freezers. Before widespread electrification through diesel generators, kerosene lamps were the primary source of evening illumination, with communities gathering to share oral traditions and songs.
Concerning this exhibition, Ned David, chair, Gur A Baradharaw Kod Torres Strait Sea and Land Council, said: “The 1970s is 50 years ago, but there’s still that living connection with the past; it seems like only yesterday. We still remember that time. This is another piece of the recorded history belonging to the region re-emerging and returning home.”
Net fishing, location: Masig, Kulkalgal Nation, Photographer: George Ohshima, George Ohshima Collection. Photo: National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan
There is always a sense of nostalgia when revisiting documentary photography from a distance of half a century. This is reflected in the four languages employed in the title of the exhibition – Meriam Mir, Kala Lagaw Ya, Japanese and English. They may all refer to the idea of ‘tides’, but in each language, the concept is nuanced in its own particular way. The communities of Zenadth Kes were facing the tides of political, economic, social, and cultural change, which brought both benefits and catastrophic challenges to their traditional values and belief systems.
My artist friends from the Torres Strait have frequently lamented the loss of traditional values with the younger generation. It is, nevertheless, a lament that is commonly expressed by Elders looking back to the good old times and contrasting this with the perceived decadence of new generations.
Many of the photographs are disarmingly honest, factual, and documentary, without pretensions of striving for artistic merit. It is precisely in their candour that lies their main merit. Completely unadorned, but sympathetic and devoid of voyeurism, they document a society that is resilient but ill-prepared for change.
Medige Village, Erub, Kemer Kemer Meriam Nation, Photographer: Hironobu Kitaoji, private Collection. Photo: Courtesy of Sara Kitaoji.
If we look back at photographs of Canberra from 50 years ago, the buildings, cars, and clothes may appear somewhat dated. In contrast, the transformation of Torres Strait communities appears to be much more fundamental and impacts every facet of life. These photographs by Japanese scholars become a touchstone for a reality that is rapidly vanishing and one that some may wish to reestablish.
Gotat, Guthath, 時代の潮目, Tides: Archival photographs from Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait), is open at The Gallery, Lowitja O’Donoghue Cultural Centre, The Australian National University, until 22 June, daily from 11 am to 4 pm. Admission is free.
