Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Blackout – Malangi: A Day in the Life of a Bark Painter (1991)

play May contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
clip
  • 1
  • 2
Creation story

This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

An aerial view of Arnhem Land where artist David Malangi lives. Narrator Ernie Dingo introduces the cosmology encapsulated within Aboriginal creation stories before introducing us to Malangi and his family.

Curator’s notes

by Liz McNiven

The opening shots of sunrise, the narrator’s halting voice-over and the ‘celestial’ sounding music emphasise the creation story presented at the beginning of this clip. From aerial shots we are shown scenes of the business of an Indigenous community. In this way, ‘country’ frames the community and the life of the artist, Malangi, who is at the centre of the film.