Film Screening: Japarta: A Journey to the Gurindji Way
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 | 4:30 p.m.
Wolfensohn Hall

Join Francesca Trivellato, Professor in the School of Historical Studies, and Ann McGrath, Patrons’ Endowment Fund Member in the School of Historical Studies, for the screening of Japarta: A Journey to the Gurindji Way, with a Q&A to follow.

Japarta: A Journey to the Gurindji Way tells the poignant story of Minoru Hokari, a brilliant young economics student from Japan who was inspired to try to find a way of studying Gurindji history and culture. 

In the 1980s, the Wave Hill Walk-off—a landmark event in the Australian Aboriginal land rights movement—came to his attention. This film is Hokari’s story, often told in his own voice, and it reveals the close connection that developed between him and the Gurindji. It follows his spiritual and intellectual transformation, and how he was, in Gurindji terms, “called” by the land to help the Gurindji tell their story to an international audience.

Japarta was the “skin name” given by the Gurindji to Minoru. He eventually spent many months living with the Gurindji, studying with elders and writing the book Radical Oral History, which reflects upon the Gurindji understanding of history in a refreshingly whimsical voice. Hokari’s cross-cultural practice has had a profound interdisciplinary impact in Japan, leading to numerous conferences, publications, and exhibitions, while the scholarship in his memory has enabled many researchers to create further breakthroughs in the field of Indigenous history, moving towards a more expansive approach to history in general. 

Assistive listening devices will be available on site. Should you wish to use one during the event, please see a member of staff.

Register below to attend.