Frederick William Doolan Jnr[1] (born 1952[2]), also known as Billy Doo, is an Australian Indigenous artist who lives in Townsville, Queensland but does most of his current artwork in Melbourne, Victoria.
[3] Doolan was born in 1952 on Palm Island, Queensland[4] which was the site of a penal settlement from 1918[5] and is one of the largest Aboriginal communities in Australia with Indigenous people making up 96.6% of the population (ABS, 2006).
This political activity resulted in the family being removed from Palm Island to Townsville on the mainland coast where they settled in Happy Valley.
The "Dreamtime Lo Spirito Dell'Arte Aborigena" Catalogue published in February 2011 is an Italian edition and supports the travelling exhibition of the same title.
[7] The Sicilian project led to the biggest non-commercial travelling exhibition of indigenous artwork to leave Australia as of 2011[update] initially titled "The Rainbow Serpent" and later renamed Dreamtime.
A didgeridoo painted by Billy which was previously exhibited in Italy was presented to the UNESCO office in Rome and is now part of its collection and on public display there.
He will be in Hong Kong from 23 April 2014 to 24 May 2014 and during the visit Billy will be involved in the following activities:- Participation in the UNESCO International Arts Education Week events.
Mr Wing came to the Croydon goldfields in Northern Queensland in the late nineteenth century to seek his fortune and settled, married Billy's great grandmother and raised a family.
The artist collaborated with Amanda Feher to produce two metal sculptures titled "Canoe People" and "Gabul Creation Story" for the Jezzine Barracks redevelopment in Townsville.
Italianicious Magazine published an article titled "Impressions of Sicily" in their November–December 2011 issue featuring works hanging at the "Between Sea and Sky" exhibition at the Italian Institute of Culture.