Hundreds of Northern Territory locals and tourists have enjoyed the first weekend of Parrtjima, the festival that literally puts the work of First Nations artists up in lights. It’s a milestone year for the decade-old celebration, drawn heavy-hitters of the nation’s arts and culture scene.
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00:00Hundreds of kilometres away from his Western Desert homeland, Bobby West Djuparula has
00:08brought its sand dunes to Alice Springs.
00:11A descendant of the trailblazing Papunya artists who popularise dot paintings worldwide, in
00:17this piece he's painting with light.
00:21In this track here, I made it from sand dunes and it's shaped like a, under the ground,
00:31shaped like this.
00:33Mr Djuparula's work is one of six installations showcasing First Nations creatives.
00:41With music, panel discussions and installations, artists are encouraged to push the boundaries,
00:47using new technologies to tell the stories that shaped them.
00:51For Balangara and Yolngu artist Molly Hunt, that means animating the Indigenous stock
00:57women who formed the backbone of life in her Kimberley home.
01:01This story in particular, it's a life harder story that shows how strong and staunch black
01:08women are, so this is very much a praise black women animation.
01:12With help on the soundtrack from actor and composer Mark Cole-Smith.
01:17Her ideas collided with my ideas and I think it works.
01:21I would say it's a very smooth journey.
01:23I think, you know, you put two Kimberley people together, you're going to make magic.
01:27Welcome to Batima.
01:29The festival, an invitation for non-Indigenous Australians to engage with Indigenous cultures.
01:35People that are Aboriginal, they don't realise we've still got our culture and it's still
01:41so important to us, even today.
01:44Here, artists have been giving live sand painting demonstrations and inviting others to trial
01:49the technique too.
01:50Just one of the ways in which you're not only invited to observe the art, but also engage
01:55with it.
01:56I just love the community vibe.
01:58I've loved all the different instalments.
02:01The festival closes on Sunday night.