Moorina Bonini
(Yorta Yorta/Woiwurrung b. 1996, in Naarm/Melbourne. Lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne)

Moorina Bonini is a proud descendant of the Yorta Yorta Dhulunyagen family clan of Ulupna and the Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri Briggs/McCrae family. Bonini’s practice is informed by her experiences as an Aboriginal and Italian woman and re-examines the lived experiences that have influenced her cultural identity.

In Gowidja (After), 2021, Bonini intersperses newly filmed and found footage to ponder the past of First Nations people and propose a new future. As the fragments of imagery accumulate on the screen, Bonini questions past and present representations of First Nations people and their cultures. Using the moving image, Bonini presents an Indigenous-led future, where all centralised governance and power has been dispersed among Indigenous people and communities. In this future, First Nations people have ownership of their cultural materials and objects, autonomy over their representation and agency to achieve self-determinism. Bonini’s practice is based within Indigenous knowledge systems and brings this to the fore, unsettling the narrative placed upon Aboriginal people as a result of colonisation.

Bonini’s work has been exhibited in galleries and institutions across Australia and internationally, including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Melbourne; The Shed, New York; Sydney Festival; Blak Dot Gallery, Melbourne; Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne; and the Koorie Heritage Trust, Melbourne. She has produced and co-curated art and cultural programs across RMIT University, the University of Melbourne and Shepparton Art Museum, and is a PhD Candidate at Monash University within the Wominjeka Djeembana Research Lab. Bonini is currently a studio artist and member of Victorian-based Indigenous emerging artist collective, this mob.

Gowidja (After) was commissioned by ACMI for Unfinished Camp, 2021.

Gowidja (After) appeared in Community Hall on 1–7 May 2023.

Film credits
Gowidja (After), Moorina Bonini, 2021, single channel video, 7 minutes 29 seconds, © Moorina Bonini