ETCHED IN BONE

17th June 2021

ETCHED IN BONE tells an extraordinary story of theft and repatriation. When the Smithsonian Institution agrees to repatriate stolen human bones from northern Australia, the Aboriginal elder Jacob Nayinggul creates a ceremony that restores his ancestors’ spirits to their homeland. Linking into contemporary debates about decolonizing museum collections and repatriating cultural artefacts and human remains, the post-screening discussion will consider recent efforts in the US and the UK. The screening was followed by a live Q&A with the filmmakers, Martin Thomas and Béatrice Bijon, alongside museum curator Stephen Welsh, and chaired by Menzies Screenings curator, Stephen Morgan.

Co-presented with the Menzies Australia Institute at Kings London.

Animism On Film

24th June 2021

This was an evening of short films and discussion around Indigenous spiritual ideas, chaired by Prof. Graham Harvey, the author of ANIMISM: RESPECTING THE LIVING WORLD. The event included two films exploring animism by Alisi Telengut (Mongolian) - THE FOURFOLD (2020) and TEARS OF INGE (2013) - and a new film about a Mayan ceremony for the equinoxAJAW Q’IJ (2021), directed by Chiara Faggionato and Juan Jose Chiriz Cuat (Maya).

Alisi Telengut: THE FOURFOLD is an animated film using paint and plants, based on animistic beliefs from Mongolia and Siberia. It’s narrated by my grandmother, who told me about all these rituals. Many rituals were suppressed in the Soviet time, but they are coming back now.

Presented in partnership with the Open University.