Meeting John Mawurndjul: A journey with Jane Campion

Jane Campion (born 1954, New Zealand) is an award-winning screenwriter, producer and director.

In this short film, Campion travels to Maningrida to meet John Mawurndjul. Campion had first encountered Mawurndjul’s work when she was invited to select works from the MCA Collection for the exhibition MCA Unpacked (2001), along with 6 other distinguished selectors. Of Mawurndjul’s work, Campion chose Nawarramulmul (Shooting star spirit) (1988) and Nialyod (Female rainbow serpent) (1988), which struck her as “intricate and authoritative; delicate, secretive and beautiful”, and she was compelled to learn more about the artworks directly from the artist.