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Mungo Trackways
Mungo Trackways
History
Location
Theatre Royale, Balranald; Ivanhoe Youth Arts Centre; Lake Mungo Visitors CentreStart date
2023-10-04End date
2023-10-12Language
English, Barkandji/Paakantyi, Ngiyampaa and Mutthi MutthiNotes
The Lake Mungo Story (Study Notes) Once a lake brimming with life, now dry for almost 20,000 years, Lake Mungo in the Willandra Lakes Region in southwest New South Wales is one of Australia’s most significant environmental and cultural landscapes. It is where evidence of past environments and megafauna fossils can be found. It is home to Mungo Lady and Mungo Man, the oldest known human remains on the continent. It is also where hundreds of fossilised footprints made by people some 20,000 years ago are preserved. The story etched in these footprints was deciphered by a group of expert trackers—a group of Pintubi people from the Western Desert—and is brought to life in The Lake Mungo Story in collaboration with the Barkandji/Paakantyi, Ngiyampaa and Mutthi Mutthi people. SUNRAYSIA DAILY ARTICLE The Mungo trackways story has been developed into an animated planetarium experience, created in collaboration with First Nations people. The Australia Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage has brought an inflatable planetarium dome to Mildura that win be at the Powerhouse from 9am today. Residents of all ages can enter the dome and view an animated produc- don which tells one of the many stories of Mungo. Communications and media manager Jacquellne Wales said the point was to produce, In collabora tion with Deakin University's motion lab, an educational media experience for all. She said ARC wanted to showcase the completed Mungo trackways story to the community and the groups that ARC and Deakin University col laborated with before the official experience was launched. Producer Martin Potter, Producer of the project and researcher at Deakin MotionLab, said it was an amazing experience collaborating with First Nations people to tell their story. Dr. Potter said, "For the Mungo story we worked with the First Nations Consultancy Group who indicated that the trackways story was what they wanted to talk about. Those trackways out at Mungo are so complex and there are a lot of stories around them. We’re trying to tell some of those stories and to bring them out to public recognition, so people go 'Oh my God, Mungo is amazing, there is so much going on' in terms of all of the different stories over thousands of generations." Dr. Potter said the animations and voices used were all from First Nations people, “We did motion capture of First Nations people connected to Mungo," he said. “We had a young girl, Audrina Pappin, speaking language as part of that story. It was lovely to see her and her aunties practising Mutthi Mutthi words and phrases as it is not a commonly spoken language anymore. There was a re-animation happening - it was a beautiful experience. I feel lucky to be a facilitator of that part of the journey and to share those stories. It is incredibly valuable for them to record their stories ... and to have different platforms to share those stories."Research statement
Background Once a lake brimming with life, now dry for almost 20,000 years, Lake Mungo in the Willandra Lakes Region in southwest New South Wales is one of Australia’s most significant environmental and cultural landscapes. It is where evidence of past environments and megafauna fossils can be found. It is home to Mungo Lady and Mungo Man, the oldest known human remains on the continent. It is also where hundreds of fossilised footprints made by people some 20,000 years ago are preserved. The story etched in these footprints was deciphered by a group of expert trackers—a group of Pintubi people from the Western Desert—and is brought to life in Mungo Trackways. Contribution Mungo Trackways is produced by Deakin MotionLab and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. I produced and co-created an immersive fulldome experience, visualising discovery of the ancient footprints and re-imagining the story of the people who made them. It is co-created with the Barkandji/Paakantyi, Ngiyampaa and Mutthi Mutthi people, featuring language from each group. Features novel use of 360VR Drone, detailed environmental modelling and timelapse of Mungo landscapes spanning 20ka, and highly innovative mobile motion capture undertaken on Country at Mungo with local artists re-tracing the ancestral footprints. Significance This immersive experience of Mungo Trackways was premiered on Country tour in a portable planetarium accompanied with a range of experiences and collateral. It was presented at the Mildura Powerhouse, Theatre Royal Balranald and Ivanhoe Youth Centre to over 3000 visitors in October 2023 including 7 school groups. Educational materials such as study guides and on-site lectures ad Q&A extended the school experiences. Participating artists presented Mungo Trackways nationally at Science Space, NSW. The experience visualises for the first time this unique and extraordinarily important cultural story.Extent
Fulldome Video Installation Artwork Various printed collateralEditor/Contributor(s)
Hill-Smith C, Jackson S, McKinnon N, Greuter S, Jaswal J, Pappin MJ, Clark W, Pappin B, Slade J, Slade U, Mitchell E, Clark J, Pappin A, Pappin K, Mitchell J, Pappin D, Pappin M, Pappin M, Franzke JD, Walbrook SRecognition, awards & prizes
MEDIA https://www.sunraysiadaily.com.au/news/6212200/mungo-experience-visits-this-weekend https://www.theguardian.com.au/arts-entertainment/lake-mungo-immersive-experience ABC Riverina (link expired) https://links.streem.com.au/abc-riverina-20231008-B63gyd1UybmCNCVhRha?keywords[]=Martin Potter Link to Video Preview: https://vimeo.com/948178020/17662f151e?share=copyEvent
Mildura PowerhousePublisher
ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and HeritagePlace of publication
Mildura PowerhouseUsage metrics
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