By Margaret Maccoll
Taking a didgeridoo to Mt Everest is in itself an uncommon occurrence.
But for Noosa filmmaker Michael Butler, this act in 1995 sparked the beginning of an adventure he has been on for the past 20 years.
It’s an adventure that will end on Sunday, with the auction of his Aboriginal art car.
Michael decided to locate the Aboriginal man who made his didgeridoo. He had no name and not even a direction in which to head.
He prepared for the journey by buying and decking out a 1961 ex-army ambulance Land Rover with a queen-size bed and film gear.
To ensure his safe passage, the great grandson of legendary artist Albert Namatjira painted a message of protection on the side of his vehicle.
On the other side, artist Tjokupa created a painting relating to a male and female Dreaming story.
A lot of people added their art to it along the journey, while Michael recorded his progress in a documentary that was narrated by actors Jack Thompson and Hugo Weaving and aired on the ABC.
Gough Whitlam left his mark on the car and so did Nelson Mandela and Ian Thorpe, he said.
“It’s a modern day message stick, a term given to it by Gough Whitlam,” Michael said.
“Young warriors would take message sticks from tribe to tribe around the country to provide safe passage.”
The journey wasn’t always smooth sailing.
Sometimes Michael had to take a break from the journey to go off and earn money and he learnt to be mechanically self-sufficient, having once had to extinguish the car when it caught fire.
“It’s been like my child,” he said.
“I’ve had to feed it, put fuel in it and I’ve always had to protect it.”
But the message stick vehicle has given back prodigiously.
“It’s amazing where the journey has taken me,” Michael said.
“Sometimes you start something in life and you never know where the journey will evolve.”
Michael did track down the maker of the didgeridoo in Arnhem Land.
“Djalu Gurruwiwi just came into my life as a spiritual guru,” he said.
“He was a master didgeridoo player. He was a very gentle man, a wise man, a cultural man.”
And the vehicle attracted great interest for both its journey and its artistic value and has been displayed in a number of museums, including the Queensland, Sydney and National museums.
The Message Stick Vehicle will be auctioned on Sunday 10 September at 11am at the Theodore Bruce Fine Aboriginal and Oceanic Arts auction, 6 Ralph Street, Alexandria, Sydney.
