Uncle Digby MoranPrint Page

The plaque located at the Gateway to Mullumbimby commemorates the life and work of indigenous artist Digby Moran.

Albert Digby Moran (1948 - 2020) was an Australian Aboriginal artist. His work derived inspiration from his Bundjalung  ancestors in the north of New South Wales, Australia, where he remains one of the Northern Rivers` most recognised artists.  After a nationally and internationally recognised career as a visual artist, Moran died in Lismore in January 2020.

Digby Moran grew up on Cabbage Tree Island on the Richmond River in New South Wales, Australia. His father was a member of the Dunghutti race and his mother a Bundjalung. His grandfather, Robert Moran, was a wood carver and from an early age Digby worked with him, making boomerangs and walking sticks. In his early adult years he worked as an agricultural cane cutter and also as a boxer with Jimmy Sharman`s touring troupe. Eventually Moran returned to that first love of his people's art and completed a TAFE arts course in 1991. He was granted a solo exhibition at the New South Wales Parliament in 2010.

An early work, 'Lizard and Snake' was made for the Lismore branch of the Aboriginal and Torres State Islander Commission, depicting the creation story of the Goanna headland at Evans Head. In 2006, Moran held an exhibition Memories of the island exhibited at the Tweed River Art Gallery. Moran's work was represented in the I saw the sun - east coast exhibition at the Lismore Regional Gallery in 2007 together with Jenny Fraser, Frances Belle Parker, Fiona Foley, Ian Abdulla and Vincent Serico.

Most of Moran's work was lost in the Lismore floods of 2017. However in 2018 the Lismore Art Gallery presented an exhibition of his work, 'Growing Up on the Island' which enhanced his reputation as one of Australia's foremost Indigenous artists. He was commissioned to paint murals by Woolworths in River Street, Ballina, in 2014; and at St Joseph's School, Woodburn, in 2019.

Internationally, Digby Moran exhibited at:

• Berlin Aboriginal Art Gallery (2001/2)
• Vienna New Media Gallery (2003)
• Museum Hamelyn, Germany: 'Energy of the Earth' (2004)
• Duisburg, Germany (2009)
• Emmerich, Germany (2009)

 

 

 

Location

Address:	Mullumbimby & Gulgan Roads, Gateway to Mullumbimby, Mullumbimby, 2482
State:	NSW
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -28.573164 Long: 153.532802 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Plaque
Monument Theme:	People
Sub-Theme:	Indigenous

Dedication

Source: MA