David Gulpilil AM (1953-2021), actor and dancer, was a Yolngu man of the Mandhalpuyngu language group and was born near Maningrida in Arnhem Land. Having been raised in the bush and educated in the customs of his people, Gulpilil was sixteen when British film director, Nicholas Roeg, saw him performing a traditional dance and cast him in the film, Walkabout, released in 1971. His career as an actor has since spanned five decades and encompasses several groundbreaking and iconic films. In addition to blazing a trail for subsequent generations of Indigenous performers, he contributed to the heightened awareness of Aboriginal culture and stories within the community generally. As Gulpilil told This Is Your Life in 1979: 'I want to share [my culture] to the Western world and I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for black and white to know better that we have culture and history still existent and I'll keep trying.'
Ross Honeysett's photograph evokes the memorable scene in Storm Boy (1976) where Gulpilil's character, Fingerbone Bill, relates a Dreaming story about a pelican, including a dance. Gulpilil's palms are opened to the camera, and the sunlight casts a shadow of them onto the sand behind him. Footprints are visible in the sand as well.
Gift of the artist 2021
© Ross Honeysett
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