Socially Distanced, Culturally Connected

Description

In September 2020, I was standing in front of social distancing signage by the Yarra River in Melbourne while making a phone call to Yoga Pratama, a young video and audio editor in Makassar, Indonesia. We were discussing the possibility of producing a virtual event to celebrate NAIDOC Week 2020 in Makassar. The distance between Makassar and Melbourne is 4,450 kilometres, but that afternoon I could vividly imagine that Yoga was standing in front of me pitching his ideas: “2020 is all about virtual experiences, so let’s create a virtual tour to connect Makassar and Yirrkala. In video editing there is a visual treatment called masking, where you put two pictures together in one frame and manipulate the audience’s experience so they see two objects or two people in one place. If we mask the footage from the art gallery in Rumata’ Makassar with footage from Buku-Larrnggay Mulka in one frame, we could create a memorable experience for the audience: they stay at home and visit two art galleries in two countries, while learning about the trepang industry in the past that connected Indonesia and Australia. How about that?”. His voice was full of enthusiasm....