The art of joining together

The art of joining together: Why we need a yuta [new] anthropology

‘Buku-manapanmirr means joining together. When Yolŋu use this term they point to the potential for people to come together without denying the differences that define us’, Phone & Spear, Miyarrka Media

As life becomes ever-more screen-bound, as we lurch through these days marked by separation and isolation, as we watch social fractures intensified by social media and digital platforms… In the midst of this, we invite you to join us for a discussion of the new book by Arnhem Land collective, Miyarrka Media, Phone & Spear: a performative manifesto for a new anthropology; an anthropology that does not simply explain or reveal one world to another, but works creatively to bring worlds into relationship.

Miyarrka Media is an arts collective based in the Yolŋu community of Gapuwiyak in northern Australia. Led by Dhalwaŋu elder Paul Gurrumuruwuy and James Cook University’s Jennifer Deger, Miyarrka Media have exhibited in the United States, Europe, Australia and Taiwan. Their collaborations include the films Ringtone (2014), Manapanmirr, in Christmas Spirit (2012) and a their recent keynote Making Worlds Otherwise for the online conference Distribute 2020. Their exhibited artworks and installations include Christmas Birrimbirr (2011), Gapuwiyak Calling (2014) and Warwuyu [Worry] (2018). Miyarrka Media’s co-created book, Phone & Spear: a Yuta Anthropology has recently been released in print  (Goldsmiths Press, 2019) and digital formats (phone-and-spear.pubpub.org). Miyarrka Media’s motto is ‘we share life’.