About

Melanie Hava

Aboriginal name:
“Winden” (green pigeon)

I am blessed to have been born into interesting and diverse cultures: my father comes from the oldest city in Austria, Enns (Upper Austria) and my mother is from the oldest cultures in the world, Aboriginal people of Australia. While celebrating my Austrian heritage, I also identify through my Mum’s line as a Mamu Aboriginal woman, Dugul-barra (Dulgu-barra) and Wari-barra family groups, from the Johnstone River catchment of the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland and the adjoining Great Barrier Reef sea country. Reef and rainforest country are important sources for my inspirations.

I have known from a very young age that I was going to be an artist. While also being a bookworm and a piano player, art was a world that I frequently retreated into as I grew up. I reckon this is because I was deaf and felt I couldn’t join in with groups of people. As a teen and along with my sister Joelene, we created art on didgeridoos and canvas. This art sold very quickly in the little, opal mining outback town of Yowah way out back of western Queensland. This red soil country still influences my works.

When I was in my late teens/early twenties, I started playing around with the ideas of combining my Aboriginal and Austrian inspiraations. I had already tried my style in Aboriginal, Folk and Abstract arts and I had had a successful first exhibition at Outback at Isa Gallery (and right now coming up to a 10 year anniversary exhibition with them). So at 23 I travelled to Austria to live with my father’s family and absorb as much as I could of the Folk and European culture. More than anything I loved the architecture, inside and out. The patterns, gold leaf and occassional Swarovski crystal in my works are some things that I’ve gleaned from the European side to my heritage.

I have now settled down in Far North Queensland’s Cairns – close at hand to my mother’s country where I am feeling close to the spirit of rainforest and reef. My life now revolves around my three children and running the house whilst keeping up with my gallery and commissioned artworks.


Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2023/24 – Bugan Mungan, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns

2016 – Reflections at Umi Arts, Cairns

2016 – Reef and Rainforest at Aboriginal Art Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherlands

2015 – Mirages to Rainbows at Outback at Isa’s Outback Gallery in August

2014 – Fusion at Tosari Galleries

2013 – UnderArt Gallery, Cairns

2011 – Feature artist at Tosari Galleries

2010 – “From Dust To Thunder,” Tosari Galleries, Toowoomba

2009 – “Indigenously Austr(al)ian,” Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Toowoomba

2005 – “Migaloo Murri,” Outback at Isa, Mount Isa

Group Exhibitions

2023 – WAMA Art Prize, finalist, Ararat Art Gallery, Ararat

2021 – Me and Uoouoo, (painted on a sculpture designed by Alexander Knox)  Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne Art Trail, Melbourne

2020 – Destination North, Works on Paper, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns

2019 – Dream Big – A Small Artwork Collection, Aboriginal Art Gallery, Rotterdam

2019 – Stall @ Art Markets, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Cairns

2019 – Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Umi Arts, Darwin

2019 – ARTNOW FNQ 2019 Exhibition, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns

2019 – Member’s Exhibition, Umi Arts, Cairns

2018 – Member’s Exhibition, Umi Arts, Cairns

2018 – Mount Isa Regional Art Gallery Opening, Mount Isa

2018 – Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Umi Arts, Darwin

2018 – Stall @ Art Markets, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair

2017 – Member’s Exhibition, Umi Arts, Cairns

2017 – Manyung Gallery, Mount Eliza

2017 – Hong Kong Affordable Art Fair, Manyung Gallery, Hong Kong

2017 – Stall @ Art Markets, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Cairns

2016 – Member’s Exhibition, Umi Arts, Cairns

2016 – Umi Arts Curated Section, Cairns Indigenous Art Far, Cairns

 

2016 – Stall with Indij Designs @ Art Markets, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Cairns

2015 – Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza

2015 – Tali Gallery,Rozelle

2015 – Umi Arts Curated Section, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Cairns

2015 – Umi Arts Curated Section, Darwin Art Fair, Darwin

2014 – Manyung gallery, Mt Eliza

2014 – Tali Gallery, Rozelle

2014 – Outback Gallery at Mount Isa

2014 – The Quilpie Museum, Gallery and Visitor Information Centre

2013 – Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza

2013 – The Quilpie Museum, Gallery and Visitor Information Centre

2012 – Earths Elements, Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza

2012 – The Quilpie Museum, Gallery and Visitor Information Centre

2008 – Brisbane Women’s Club, Brisbane

2007 – Gulf of Carpentaria and Savannah Indigenous Dreaming’s and Lifestyle exhibition

Write-ups

Exhibition Review: Melanie Hava: Bugan Mungan Cairns Art Gallery

Jack Wilkie-Jans, Arts Hub

Symbols of Australia Imagining a Nation

Book published 2021, Image 45

Reef in Review: The Magazine of the Australian Coral Reef  Society

Under the bunggu: The Inspiration of Sea Country – 2021 Issue

Reforest Now

Feature Story Artwork from Melanie Hava Feel Joy, Issue 1 May/June 2020 pages 34-36

6 Homewares and Fashion Brands Showcasing Indigenous Artists

Better Homes & Gardens  –  30/10/20

About the Cover Masthead

The Kuranda Paper  –  30/10/20

Feature Story

Reforest Now, Issue #1  –  May & June 2020

Liz Rogers, Colour Me Hava

Mornington Peninsula Magazine  –  03/19

Valerie Shooter, Vignette: Modern Indigenous Art

ADFAS Gold Coast Inc Newsletter  –  Summer 2019

Reflecting with Melanie Hava Mamu Aboriginal Artist

Whats on & Where To Go  –  09/18

Millaa Millaa’s New Look Mainstreet

The Cairns Post  – 01/06/15

Ally Martel, Christmas at My Place

Ruth, Summer Issue 9

Landscapes Inspire Artist

The Chronicle  –  14/06/14

Denise Carter, Melanie Hava combines Australian and Austrian influences in new solo art exhibition at UnderArt Gallery in Cairns

29/10/13

Ally Martel, “Indigenous Mix”

Highlife Magazine  –  Spring 2010

Sandy Pottinger, “Artist Shares Imaginative Landscapes”

The Chronicle  –  05/06/2010

Rosie O’Sullivan, “Melanie Hava”

Style Magazine  –  June 2010

Merryl Miller, “From Dust to Thunder”

Style Magazine  –  June 2010

Sandy Pottinger, “Solo Exhibitions Shape Focal Points for Brave Artists”

The Chronicle  –  11/07/2009

Joann Marsh, “Artist Fuses Cultures to Create Work”

The Chronicle  –  04/07/2009

Tahnee Watson, “Pair’s Art Becomes Serious Business”

The North West Star  –  04/03/2008

Alison Mooney, “Motherhood Influential”

The North West Star  –  08/01/2008

Aleisha Orr, “Exhibition Aids Artists”

The North West Star  –  15/08/2007

Aleisha Orr, “Exhibition Aids Artists”

The North West Star  –  15/08/2007

Mia Ginnivan, “Talented Young Woman”

The North West Star  –  10/06/2005

Representing Galleries

Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery, Kununurra WA

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Aboriginal Art Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherlands

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Terra Nova Gallery, Kuranda QLD

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Nissarana Galleries, Noosa, QLD

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Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns, QLD

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