Segar Passi: Bakei – 1960s to the Present was the first major solo exhibition in Australia of works by senior Torres Strait Island artist, Segar Passi.

This exhibition forms part of the Cairns Art Gallery online First Nations Research Archive developed as part of the Gallery’s online Legacy Archive produced to celebrate the Gallery’s 30th anniversary.

Segar Passi was born on Mer (formerly Murray Island) in the Torres Strait. He is a significant senior artist whose world of intricate cultural knowledge was discovered by respected visiting anthropologist, Margaret Lawrie.

In the 1960s Passi was one of eight Torres Strait Island artists asked by Lawrie to record, in paintings and drawings, the history, culture, flora and fauna of the Torres Strait. As a young, self-taught artist, Passi made more than 135 remarkable watercolours and sketches of bird and marine life for Lawrie’s project, together with recorded stories and cultural knowledge passed down to him by his Elders on Mer.

The main compositional elements in these works are cloud formations familiar to the people of Mer that signal wind and rain events and optimal conditions for fishing. Other works relate to the passing of cultural knowledge to the community by Elders, and aspects of everyday life such as food preparation and traditional basket weaving. 

The artist’s use of bold colours and directness of form and composition defy categorisation and have earned Passi a strong place within the artistic traditions of the Torres Strait, whilst also positioning him as an outstanding contemporary artist of his time. 

In 2012 and 2014 Cairns Art Gallery commissioned thirteen works by Passi for its Collection. These were included in the exhibition together with a selection of works from the Margaret Lawrie Archive, State Library of Queensland; the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art; and private collections.