Kopi Healing workshop 2021

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Join internationally renowned artist Maree Clarke in an intimate workshop where she will share insights about mourning practices of South Eastern Australia.

The workshop will focus on the practice of wearing Kopi mourning caps. Participants will first learn about mourning practices and then be guided through a process of making Kopi clay headwear to support a deepened understanding of Aboriginal culture and the connections between arts and emotional wellbeing. The workshop will address 'Sorry Business', with the greatest respect.

Suitable for ages 15 years and above.

This event is part of The National 2021: New Australian Art opening weekend.

About the Kopi mourning cap

The Kopi mourning cap represents loss, sorrow and grief. Aboriginal women would cut off their hair, weave a net of emu sinew and place the sinew on their head. They'd then cover it with several layers of gypsum, a white river clay, forming the Kopi. These Kopi could weigh up to seven kilograms and were a signifier of the wearer being in a state of grief. There is documentation of men also wearing the Kopi mourning cap. Women wore the Kopi from two weeks to six months depending on their relationship to the deceased. At the end of their mourning period the Kopi was taken off and placed on the grave of their deceased loved one.

In this workshop the wearing of the Kopi will be done with respect and reverence for the revitalisation of this mourning practice, within a contemporary context.

What to bring:

In the workshop, you will make a Kopi from earthenware clay. We encourage you to bring an old shirt or smock to protect your clothing, as well as a selection of flowers, twigs, gumnuts or leaves to decorate your Kopi. Additionally, please bring a large bag and/or cardboard box to carry your clay Kopi home.

About Maree Clarke

The artist is a Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung woman who grew up in northwest Victoria, mainly in Mildura, on the banks of the Murray River.

Maree is a pivotal figure in the reclamation and promotion of southeast Australian Aboriginal art practices, reviving elements of Aboriginal culture that were lost - or laying dormant - over the period of colonisation, as well as being a leader in nurturing and promoting the diversity of contemporary southeast Aboriginal artists. Her multimedia installations, including photography, sculpture, and video, further uncover her ancestors' customary ceremonies and rituals.

Clarke's work has featured centrally in many exhibitions across Australia; and is the focus of a major career survey, Ancestral Memory, at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2021.

Maree is also part of The National 2021: New Australian Art exhibition, from 26 March - 22 August 2021.

*Concession: Tertiary/TAFE/ESL Students with photo ID, Senior's Card holders, Unemployed/Concession Card holders, NAVA card holders