Screening: Mr. Patterns and Too Many Captain Cooks

Embark on a journey through Australia’s cultural landscape with two poignant documentaries that illuminate Indigenous perspectives on art, history, and identity. Mr. Patterns chronicles the transformative impact of Geoff Bardon, an art teacher who, in the early 1970s, introduced Western desert Aboriginal communities to the medium of dot painting. Working alongside the Papunya artists, Bardon facilitated the resurgence of traditional designs, intertwining cultural expression with economic independence. In Too Many Captain Cooks, Rembarrnga elder Paddy Fordham Wainburranga offers a critical retelling of Captain James Cook’s arrival from an Aboriginal perspective.

Mr. Patterns generously provided by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

Too Many Captain Cooks generously provided by Ronin Films