Jimi K. Thaiday

CIAF 2026 Innovation Art Award Recipient.

Jimi.k Thaiday is a Torres Strait Islander artist from Erub (Darnley Island), whose work spans sculpture, ghost net art, and digital media. Rooted in Torres Strait culture, his sculptures reclaim discarded nets to honor marine species like sharks and turtles, addressing climate change and cultural resilience. Thaiday’s works have been held at the National Gallery of Australia, QAGOMA, the British Museum, and the MEG (Museum of Ethnography) in Geneva. In 2018, he won the Overall Gab Titui Indigenous Art Award.

Responding to the theme of Reclamation & Regeneration, this body of ghost net sculptures comprises of newly created works alongside selected existing pieces. The works explore discarded fishing nets as both material and metaphor, transforming harmful waste into culturally significant representations of marine species, including sharks and turtles.

Drawing on Torres Strait Islander relationships with Sea Country, the sculptures acknowledge the environmental damage caused by ghost nets while emphasising resilience, care, and cultural continuity. Through acts of reclamation and transformation, destructive materials are given new life and meaning.

The works also respond to the impacts of climate change and the vulnerability of ocean ecosystems and island communities across the Torres Strait. Together, they embody regeneration, cultural strength, and an enduring responsibility to protect and care for Sea Country for future generations.

CIAF 2026 Innovation Art Award for Ghostnet Installation.