Born circa 1924 on Bentinck Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Gabori grew up traditionally hunting, fishing and gathering. In the 1940s after a combination of drought and rising tides led to conflict among the Kaiadilt people, missionaries deported the entire population to Mornington Island where she lived for many years. Originally a weaver, Gabori first began exhibiting her paintings in 2005 at the Mornington Island Arts and Crafts Centre. She had a solo exhibition in 2005 at the Woolloongabba Art Gallery and was a finalist in the Xstrata Indigenous Emerging Artist Award in 2006. Her work was subsequently purchased for the permanent collection of the Queensland Art Gallery and in 2012 her work was included in the National Gallery of Australia’s National Indigenous Art Triennial.
The income from her painting enabled her to return, with other women, to Bentinck Island.
As is the custom, on her death her name was changed to Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda.
Mirdidingkingathi means someone born in Mirdidingkinki
Juwarnda is a dolphin, her totem.
- Writers:
- Allas, Tess
- Date written:
- 2007
- Last updated:
- 2020
