Nyarri Nyarri Morgan: Virtual Reality, History and Indigenous Experience

Nyarri Nyarri Morgan is a Martu man from the Western Desert who lives in the remote Parnngurr Community of W.A. He lived his early life with no contact with western culture until he witnessed an atomic test held by the British government in the South Australian desert. It was an experience that had a profound impact on Morgan and, over half a century later, led to a collaboration with Sydney-based immersive technology artist and director, Lynette Wallworth. His story is now the subject of the Virtual Reality film, Collisions. Collisions drops audiences in the middle of the Pilbara desert – home of Morgan and of the Martu people. This conversation will take Morgan’s experience filming Collisions as a starting point for a broader discussion of the issues facing the Martu people in this remote region of Western Australia. Joined by Wallworth, Nyarri's wife Nola and young filmmaker and Martu leader Curtis Taylor, Morgan will speak about his life, his work as an artist and the fate of the Martu people since the actions in Collisions took place. An activist elder who has seen his community through some dramatic changes, a speaker of seven western desert languages, an artist whose work has been exhibited across the world and a man whose story is now being shared in VR – meet this extraordinary Australian and his family for a discussion of culture, contention, creativity and collaboration. Lynette Wallworth is an acclaimed Australian artist and director whose immersive installations and films reflect connections between people and the natural world as well as explore fragile human states of grace. Curtis Taylor is a filmmaker, screen artist and a young Martu leader. Ngalangka Nola Taylor is a painter and one of the senior translators and cultural advisors on the Canning Stock Route Project.