NEW DELHI: Australian First Nations artist, designer and cultural advocate Grace Lillian Lee is set to present her work in India at the India Art Fair 2026, bringing Indigenous Australian perspectives on heritage, sustainability and identity to Indian audiences.
Lee will showcase ‘The Winds of Guardians’, a new body of work deeply rooted in the cultural traditions of the Torres Strait Islands.
A descendant of the Miriam Mer Saussep people of the Eastern Islands of the Torres Strait, Lee draws on ancestral knowledge passed down through generations.
Introduced to traditional weaving at a young age, her contemporary practice continues to be shaped by these techniques, blending cultural memory with modern material expression. Her work explores themes of Country, Indigenous sovereignty and environmental consciousness through a distinctly present-day lens.
At the India Art Fair, Lee will present four large structural forms titled North Winds, South Winds, East Winds and West Winds, accompanied by a ceremonial Dreamweaver mask.
Together, the works examine wind as both a physical force and a metaphor for movement, memory and transmission.
Inspired by beliefs surrounding ancestors and wind spirits from the Torres Strait Islands, the installations are constructed using materials such as cotton webbing.