Two Old Artists Looking for Food
A film screening to complement Mulkun Wirrpanda and John Wolseley’s exhibition, Midawarr/Harvest, delves deeper into the two iconic artists’ creative processes and inspiration from food plants in East Arnhem Land.
The two-part documentary, Two Old Artists Looking For Food, follows Wolseley and YolÅu elder Wirrpanda, who describe the role the food plants of East Arnhem Land have in sustaining the wellbeing of Wirrpanda’s people.
Each of the two films contain insights into the philosophies and techniques Wolseley and Wirrpanda used to create the works in the exhibition, now showing at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT).
The exhibition was born out of a strong bond between the two artists, who share an obsession with traditional YolÅu plant use.
In the film by her grandson, Ishmael Marika, Wirrpanda explains that she wants to share her knowledge of bush food with the next generation to help combat their dependence on junk food.
“Our old people lived and survived on this food and they never got sick,” she says.
“Then foreign food came and brought sickness to people.
“With our food, our old people never got sick, they were strong.”
The exhibition features a specially commissioned panoramic scroll painting of a floodplain by Wolseley and 60 paintings and memorial poles of YolÅu plants.
SAT 24 NOV | 1PM | MAGNT | $5 | magnt.net.au
