Not sheepish: Dark Mofo aims for controversy with flesh in a jar

Dark Mofo festival has unveiled this year’s first exhibit, with Nathan Maynard’s We threw them down the rocks where they had thrown the sheep headlining another controversial collection.

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Dark Mofo, Australia’s midwinter solstice celebration, is back with another exhibition, boasting a confronting work that “uses flesh to lay bare the legacy of cultural theft”.

A sneak peek of the work by Trawlwoolway artist Nathan Maynard, called “We threw them down the rocks where they had thrown the sheep”, appears to show three sheep heads in glass jars surrounded by clear liquid and softly illuminated.

The collection is said to make a comment on the “the sadistic power white institutions flex when they deny First Nations people the humanity of putting our ancestor’s remains to rest”.

“Languishing in museums and their storerooms are the remains of ancestors of First Nations people from all around our globe,” Maynard says. “They have been stripped of identity and, without consent, treated like specimens for study and scientific inquiry.

The exhibit is a reference to the Cape Grim Massacre, in which a group of Aboriginal people were killed by shepherds who then threw their bodies down a cliff in 1828.

It is not the first time the artist has made headlines. Maynard’s previous work, Relics Act, included a call-out for an Australian man of British descent to volunteer his future deceased body, a project that “will conclude with a ceremonial act of repatriation”.

It comes following the announcement of Dark Mofo’s come­back this year, with organisers promising an “inspiring” program of contemporary art, live music, ritual and revelry.

Dark Mofo artistic director Chris Twite believes there is a strong demand for the festival’s return, which runs from June 5 to 15, after more than 6000 pre­release tickets were snapped up in less than four hours after being ­released in November.

“Taking the year off in 2024 was a difficult decision, but Dark Mofo is back with renewed energy and focus, ready to deliver an enormous program spanning two packed weeks this June,” he said.

“We’re grateful for the support of the state government and the continued generosity of David Walsh, which is allowing us to lay the foundation for another incredible decade of Dark Mofo.

“Today we are excited to reveal the first piece of the festival’s … program with a powerful new work by Nathan Maynard.”

Dark Mofo’s full two-week line-up will be released on April 4.