Ian Abdulla

Background

Abdulla was born in 1947 at Swan Reach, on the Murray River, in the Riverland region of South Australia.

Career

He has been called Australia"s greatest naive artist. On the morning of 29 January, at the age of 63, he died at the Berri Hospital, South Australia after a brief battle with cancer. His family was by his side.

His art depicts the landscape and activities of this area, with a strong storytelling element.

Abdulla"s work featured on the cover of the World Health Organisation"s annual report. In 1991 Abdulla was named South Australian Aboriginal Artist of the Year, and was awarded an Australia Council Fellowship in 1992.

Achievements

• His book, As I Grew Older was awarded the Australian Multicultural Children’s Literature Award in 1994 and, Tucker was short-listed for the Children’s Book Council Eve Pownall Award for Information Books in 1995.