occupation studies: ngayanhurra bayarral Birrarung Backdrop Blur
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occupation studies: ngayanhurra bayarral Birrarung

"they tried to tame Birrarung"

In this work, the artists assert the fatal link between genocide and ecocide, exposing the colonial logic of 'taming', inherent in European intervention. Video footage and field recordings of the Birrarung are layered with shredded snippets of a score composed in the 1800s, inspired by the river. By contrast, the soundscape features the voice of Jasper Cohen-Hunter, who recounts the Creation Story of the Birrarung as told by Beruk (William Barak, 1823-1903), the Ngurungaeta (leader) of the Wurundjeri-balluk.

Top Cast

  • Jasper Cohen-Hunter

    Jasper Cohen-Hunter

    Self

Overview

In this work, the artists assert the fatal link between genocide and ecocide, exposing the colonial logic of 'taming', inherent in European intervention. Video footage and field recordings of the Birrarung are layered with shredded snippets of a score composed in the 1800s, inspired by the river. By contrast, the soundscape features the voice of Jasper Cohen-Hunter, who recounts the Creation Story of the Birrarung as told by Beruk (William Barak, 1823-1903), the Ngurungaeta (leader) of the Wurundjeri-balluk.

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Night Will Fall

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

Night Will Fall

7.6 2014