Karli Jalangu – Boomerang Today
Clip 2: Dogwood tree
3 min 0 sec
Taken from the documentary Karli Jalangu – Boomerang Today (2004)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be G
Availability of the complete title
Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
Curator’s clip description
Senior men prepare the dogwood – or mulga – tree. The Elder chops at the tree, carving away the excess. Eventually the shape of the number seven boomerang begins to emerge.
Curator’s notes
The visceral nature of the preparation of the number seven boomerang is captured in the documentary simply by having the audience share moments of observing the elder carve the tree with an axe, giving us an understanding of the muscular energy that making such an artefact would require. The group of men shown at the beginning of the film, and the physical exertion it takes to make the number seven boomerang, is in direct contradiction to something that is mechanically created. This is communicated in the film through deliberate, plotted moments where we are just watching; and in this watching, we too are feeling the heat of the day where the elders are situated.
Romaine Moreton, curator
have teachers’ notes.
