In 2024, Jade Akamarre unveiled one of her most ambitious collaborations to date — a partnership with Yamaha Australia that brought together art, heritage, horsepower, and innovation in a way the industry had never seen before. Tasked with reimagining the iconic Yamaha WaveRunner, Jade transformed the sleek watercraft into a moving canvas that carried her family’s Dreaming stories and the timeless legacy of her Country. The project, titled Travelling Between Worlds, wasn’t just about custom design; it was about merging two worlds — the precision of Yamaha engineering with the cultural depth of Aboriginal storytelling.

For Jade, the WaveRunner held personal significance long before this collaboration. She describes it as her greatest release, a way to “leave reality for a moment and just breathe.”

Being out on the water was where she found calm, freedom, and clarity. To take something that had always been her sanctuary and merge it with her art made the project not only professional but deeply personal. “When I’m on the water, it’s just me, the horizon, and the endless blue,” Jade says. “It’s a space where I feel grounded and connected, and now to see my Country reflected on the very surface of the WaveRunner feels like the two parts of my life have finally come together.”

Her design featured her signature loose dotting technique, layered in flowing patterns that mirrored both the rippling currents of water and the aerial views of her homeland, Atnwengerrp, in the Utopia region of the Northern Territory. The deep blues and luminous whites evoked the serenity of the ocean, while intricate motifs paid homage to women’s ceremonial Dreamings passed down from her grandmother, the late Barbara Weir, and great-grandmother, Minnie Pwerle.

In blending these elements, Jade honoured 60,000 years of cultural storytelling while celebrating Yamaha’s 100-year legacy of innovation.

Equally important to Jade was the opportunity to use this collaboration as a platform to amplify Aboriginal voices in a way that felt authentic and organic. She saw it as a responsibility to be a role model not only for her own people but also for women stepping into spaces often dominated by men. The project became a reflection of her ability to walk between two worlds — culture and corporate and to balance them with integrity.

By merging these worlds on such a prominent stage, Jade showed how powerful storytelling can reshape perceptions and celebrate identity in a positive and empowering way.

Behind the finished WaveRunner was an entire team of collaborators who believed in Jade’s vision and helped bring it to life. Ollie Sharp from Yamaha Australia Marketing championed the project from conception to execution, ensuring Jade’s cultural narrative was honoured and amplified.

Darryl Lovegrove, CEO of Yamaha Australia, provided leadership support and recognised the importance of storytelling as a central part of Yamaha’s centenary journey. The creative production, filming, and editing were led by Chris Benny of QUBE Productions, whose vision captured Jade’s process in a breathtaking campaign that carried the story across Australia and beyond.

The result was not only a WaveRunner but an artwork in motion — an object that reflected both cutting-edge performance and cultural resonance. The campaign film Travelling Between Worlds has since been celebrated for its cinematic storytelling, winning a Gold Award from the Australian Cinematographers Society NSW, an accolade that underscored the impact of this collaboration.

For Jade, the project represented more than a brand partnership; it was a chance to place Aboriginal culture at the forefront of global design and performance. It symbolised how heritage and innovation could coexist — how the rhythm of Country and the pulse of an engine could tell the same story of freedom, movement, and connection.