Clan groups: Wik Liyanh
Language groups: Thayorre

Sid Bruce Shortjoe was born in Aurukun, Queensland in 1964. As a teenager he grew up in Pormpuraaw and lived amongst his great grandmother’s Kugu people and learned their languages. He is a fluent linguist and speaks nine languages as well as English. He is a respected cultural leader and scholar and celebrated artist.

Since 2010 he has worked as an artist at the Pormpuraaw Art Centre. He describes art as another new language that he has learned and uses to communicate with people. He is noted for his vinyl print carvings and more recently for his ghost net sculptures that depict the marine life forms found in the tropical waters of Cape York.

Sid’s life and works have featured in several films and TV documentaries and his work has been exhibited extensively since 2012, including the Taba Nab exhibition in Monaco in 2016. His work is represented in most major Australian public and private collections.

He is represented by Pormpuraaw Art & Culture Centre.