Ricardo Idagi – ‘Upi mop le – Tail end man’

Below is an image of a Torres Strait mask made from a turtle shell. This piece titled Upi mop le – Tail end man was made by Ricardo Idagi and won the New Media Category in the 28th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2011.

Richard Idagi, 2011, 'Upi mop le – Tail end man'

Mixed media, 130 x 90 x 130cm.

When I first saw this piece shown in the lecture, I was surprised. It’s a very impressive and imaginative piece. The detail is outstanding and so are the other deaddresses with sharks and other animals on them. I was even more surprised to learn that there was a projector inside, showing a film of Idagi performing traditional dance.

Initially I thought this mask was some kind of really modern wacky abstract art; but when we discussed it in tutorial I found it was actually a traditional headdress. We also talked about whether the viewer needed to know if it was traditional or not and decided it didn't matter; people can just appreciate it for the interesting art it is. I think the mask creates an unusual and effective combination of traditional and modern culture.