sharing the adventure of visual arts
EAST GIPPSLAND ART GALLERY
Aunty Rachel Mullett
Jennifer Mullett
Ben Pender
16 June - 29 July 2023
Opening event 5.30pm Friday 16 June | All welcome FREE
Aunty Rachel Mullett is a Gunnai/Monero elder and mixed-media artist and painter who was taught by her mother. In 2006, she won the Deadly Art Award at the Victorian Indigenous Art Awards.
Jennifer Mullett is the daughter of Uncle Albert Mullett, and Aunty Rachel Mullett and the mother of Ben Pender. Jennifer’s work is a re-connection to personal memories and experiences and a representation of identity that explores the symbolism used in paintings, artifacts and storytelling of the Gunaikurnai, Bidawal and Ngarigu (Monaro) peoples. Jennifer’s work is held in public galleries and museums, including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria and Koorie Heritage Trust, Melbourne.
Below, Jennifer Mullett, “Why the Robin has a red breast” Tutbring (Robin) Gook Gook (Owl)
"There was once a great scarcity of water in the world. The robin had found some in a tree but kept the secret to himself. The mopoke, realising that the robin had this secret store, resolved to find it.
He tracked the robin to the tree and heard him splashing about in the water. Then he closed the entrance to the hole and imprisoned the robin in it. When the robin realised he was trapped he pleaded to be let out, but the mopoke refused to do so unless he promised to share the water with everybody. After some hesitation, the robin agreed to do so.
The mopoke was now faced with the difficulty of cutting a hole in the tree so that the robin could escape unhurt. When he tried to find a place, he was told by the robin that his back was there, and in another place, that his breast was there. At last, getting tired of this the mopoke made a cut in the tree but hurt the robin’s breast, which is red to this day."
