Watami Manikay (Song of the Winds) Installation Image

Watami Manikay is an immersive collaborative performance by the Yolŋu digital artists of The Mulka Project. The collaboration weaves together the kinship relationships of artists from multiple connected Yolŋu clans. It links beyond people to plants, animals, places, waters, seasons, and through to the winds, Bulluṉu (east wind), Bärra (west wind), Luŋgurrma (north wind), Maḏirri (south wind) …

At the centre of Watami Manikay stands a unique larrakitj (hollow ceremonial log) painted white with gapaṉ (ceremonial clay). The larrakitj represent the foundation gunḏa (the rock). The unwavering rock grounds each clan to their identity whilst the ephemeral gapaṉ represents the changing clouds rebuilding anew with every passing season.”

The Mulka Project is a collective of highly active artists who work with cutting-edge digital technologies, producing video art that links across land, recording and archiving song and everyday life. These practices range from precise projection mapping, to digital animation and editing. The Mulka Project’s work is a continuation of ‘countless generations of evolving Yolŋu art practice’. Through multiple interweaving film projections, Watami Manikay envelops the viewer in a cyclical work formed by the vast Yolŋu film archive managed by Yolŋu law, governance and culture.