In only a few minutes this video conveys to us in powerful images and simple language how the Aboriginal people and their 'country', their art and their stories, and their songs and ceremonies are part of one another and, in fact, inseparable. Watching this film I am reminded of Gregory Bateson's comment that the aesthetic, the whole and the sacred evoke each other.
Having just returned from the Central Desert the second time and participating in Women's Business at some very special sacred sites, I have begun to grasp in a new way what the notion of homeland or 'country' may mean to the Aboriginal people and how healing the land is healing ourselves.
Enjoy this glimpse into a completely different kind of human relationship to the natural environment, visible or not.
The story behind the video
In the vast Western Desert of Australia, Bill Whiskey is a healer. A Ngangkari. Powerful and hugely respected. Bill Whiskey is almost 90 and was well into his teenage years when he first met a white fella.
He was born the traditional way, in a shallow hole scooped out of the red dirt in the centre of Australia. Today, Bill Whiskey is one of Australia's most successful artists. His paintings hang in museums and galleries across the world. Amazingly, he has only been painting for two years.
When Bill Whiskey's canvas is chosen to hang in Australia's most prestigious Aboriginal art exhibition, his closest friends promise to take him to see it. But Bill Whiskey has never left his country. Hes never seen a city. Never seen the ocean. Bill Whiskey has never seen his paintings on a gallery wall. This documentary film is Bill Whiskeys journey to all those places. Being out of his country Bill Whiskey is overwhelmed, fearful and homesick. He wants to go home to his birthplace where the dots of his paintings come alive. A place he has only ever been back to once in his life. There, That Old Man takes us into his dreaming, into his painting, into a world tens of thousands of years old. A place of mystery and legend where no white fella has been before. Until now.
This is amazing, Gisela - deeply nourishing and exquisite. Thank you for bringing it to us.
Posted by: amy lenzo | 09/13/2010 at 01:23 PM
I 'see' and hear the land and other Earth Beings in the very Presence of 'That Old Man'...powerful medicine indeed! Thank you Gisela for sharing the profound and deeply moving experience(s) of the Ancient Wisdom of the Aboriginal People...
Posted by: Janet Aguilar | 09/14/2010 at 07:36 AM
Amy and Janet, you are both welcome. It is my experience that being in the desert with people who grew up there, the nature spirits and the healing capacity of the natural environment is ever so much more present and accessible.
Toward the end of the video clip the feeling of this deep connection to the land is so exquisitely conveyed when the artist and the Aboriginal women next to him, a famous artist in her own right, sing to the painting and she says ever to hauntingly, "....our country".
Posted by: Gisela | 09/15/2010 at 07:51 PM
It was a deeply stilling and actually transforming experience just sitting in front of a screen and watching this piece. Thank you for offering it!
Posted by: Claire Jankelson | 03/10/2011 at 12:08 AM
Beautiful. The best representative piece of recording i have ever seen on Australian ingigenous culture. As a Maori, i feel seen and understood in my own country and feel the Pakeha (white new Zealanders) respect and understand my cultural heritage. having lived in Australia for many years i have always experienced 'Aboriginals' as forgotten people. They are tolerated, and pretty well non-events... unless they are great football players or run really fast... and have a palatable 'New Idea' personality. Australia cannot truly progress without honouring and appreciating the tangata whenua (people of the land) they hold a magic and special connection that unlocks a whole new experience. i so appreciate your blog. thank you.
Posted by: julian noel | 04/13/2011 at 04:51 PM
Watch the Old Man's expressions of connection to country is a transforming experience. Knowledge of connection to my place in Australia is strengthened. Thank you!
Posted by: Lisa Roberts | 04/27/2012 at 05:15 AM
Lisa, it is good to know that your connection to country is strengthened with the wisdom that Bill shares in this film. Thank you.
Posted by: Gisela Wendling | 04/27/2012 at 06:31 PM