Debil Debil

By Carrie Miller

Taking its inspiration from the 20^th anniversary premiere of Tracey Moffatt’s first and only feature film beDevil in Australia and at the Cannes Film Festival , Professor Marcia Langton AM has curated an exhibition that includes the film and the work of other celebrated indigenous artists and filmmakers. Following beDevil, which tells a trilogy of self-contained narratives about characters plagued by ghostly visions – partly inspired by Moffatt’s early life – the other artists in Debil Debil take their cues from the way Moffatt’s film conjures imaginative spaces beyond the bounds of our knowable world.

As curator Langton puts it, in Debil Debil  the artists and filmmakers have each tackled the haunting manifestation of the ghosts of the past with potency and originality, “…drawing uniquely on Australian history, colonial tropes, landscapes, our families of fauna and flora, indigenous history, feeling, and disturbing visions that reach into our lives.”

The exhibition comprises some of Australia’s  leading and critically acclaimed Aboriginal artists including Brook Andrew, Gordon Bennett, Daniel Boyd, Michael Cook, Destiny Deacon, Ricardo Idagi, Danie Mellor, Tracey Moffatt, rea, Darren Siwes, Christian Thompson, Warwick Thornton, and Nawurapu Wunungmurra. Debil Debil is held by Anna Schwartz Gallery with a cinema program starring the works of Moffatt, Thornton, activist Rachel Perkins and others held at Carriageworks.

Until June 8

Anna Schwartz Gallery, Darlington

www.annaschwartzgallery.com