In the brush strokes of the artist, a painted effigy of timeless culture.
Explorers share a sincere desire to understand and preserve through account or art the vanishing traditions of a people. Thus the expressions of an explorer convey a history of uncommon culture with abiding reverence.
Photographer Michele Westmorland relates the story of one such explorer, who’s visions enlightened and engaged a legacy of art and historical capture.
Artist, Caroline Mytinger, realised the enormous impact that western influence was having on indigenous peoples and wanted to capture changing cultural traditions before they vanished forever. This led Caroline to Melanesia, where there are over 800 unique cultures. Caroline wanted to paint portraits of her subjects depicting the pride and dignity they deserved. As a photographer, I wanted to take photos showing that same sense of pride—to tell the story of change in Melanesia—to open eyes and minds to a place only a small population of the world even knows about.
M. Westmorland
Michele’s Passion Project
‘Headhunt Revisited’ is a documentary film about the power of Caroline Mytinger’s art to span oceans and decades. The film retraces Caroline’s improbable journey to Melanesia in the 1920’s, then known as the land of headhunters, to paint portraits of the native islanders. 80 years later her paintings have inspired two contemporary artists. Motivated by Caroline’s art, Michele and Papua New Guinean painter Jeffry Feeger, have created their own modern interpretations of Melanesians. ‘Headhunt Revisited’ illustrates with paintings, photography and filmmaking, that all forms of art are instrumental in communicating stories of culture and tradition.
Learn more about the production, read highlights from the experience, and discover the art and history of Melanesia through the expressions of an explorer at: www.headhuntrevisited.org
