Living on Minjerribah North Stradbroke Island, Delvene Cockatoo-Collins is a Nunukul, Ngugi and Goenpul woman of Quandamooka Country.
Delvene is an artist who specialises in textiles and ceramics. The stories she shares through these mediums are those of her family's lived experiences on Minjerribah, the natural environment, and her responses to representations of images and objects of Quandamooka. Some of these images and designs include 'where freshwater meets saltwater' and 'Migalu yalingbilla'. Delvene sells her products through her market stall label Made on Minjerribah.
Delvene currently works on local arts projects, including Jarjums Life Museum—a project capturing the lives of children living on Minjerribah and Inala, local cultural events including NAIDOC on Minjerribah, and the Quandamooka Festival—a three-month cultural festival held across Quandamooka Country. Some of the highlights of local festivals include the cultural exchanges on Minjerribah with visiting Pacific Nations, which involve the sharing of song, dance and food with visitors.
Delvene lives on Country with her family. It is important to her that her children know their families, their connections, Country, the local language 'Jandai' and their traditional dances.