Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
How migrating to the 'wild' world of Darwin as a child inspired Franck Gohier's artistic career
ABC NEWS (Australia)
Follow
today
Artist Franck Gohier is part of the artistic fabric of Darwin, but, when he arrived from France with his parents 50 years ago, the cyclone-ravaged outpost was like an alien universe.
Category
📺
TV
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:01
Here's an example of one of my prints.
00:05
It's a screen print and letterpress poster
00:08
commemorating when the Beatles came into Darwin
00:11
to refuel their plane.
00:15
Growing up here has influenced a lot of what I do here with my work.
00:18
When I was a teenager I was a bit of an amateur archaeologist
00:21
so I'd go in the mangroves foraging around looking for bits and pieces.
00:26
My name's Frank, I'm a visual artist on Larrakir Country.
00:31
The history of Darwin has been very influential in my practice over the years.
00:36
My parents had heard about Cyclone Tracy and we'd moved from Paris to Sydney to Darwin
00:41
which was totally wiped out.
00:43
It was just like being on another planet or in a science fiction movie.
00:47
It was pretty wild.
00:49
Mum and Dad had a demolition business, they helped with the clean up
00:52
and so that still informs my work to a great deal as well too.
00:55
There's lots of strata, lots of history, the detritus of other people's stories
01:00
which I bring into new contemporary storytelling I suppose as well too.
01:03
Some of those objects that I find are also incorporated into the artwork as well too
01:07
to give them more layering and more meaning.
01:09
I was playing with the words Smith Street and the words Smith
01:12
and just all the different connotations as it had to do with Darwin at the time.
01:16
So it's just a bit of a haiku to Darwin really, Darwin history.
01:20
This painting's like the culmination of I guess lots of different things.
01:25
When someone's commissioning a work or asking me to work on a project
01:29
I ask that person like what they want from that idea.
01:33
Or I'll ask that of myself as well too.
01:35
So if I'm working say on a series about the bombing of Darwin
01:38
the first port of call would be the Ordinary Territory Archive
01:41
then probably on Google as well too.
01:43
And then I'll probably just go and try and find sites around Darwin
01:46
where there's still remnants of that history.
01:48
I just keep making things, I keep exploring things.
01:52
I get all sorts of jobs and I'll just take them all on.
01:54
It's like, it's always the next job that's the most interesting job.
01:58
You know what I mean?
01:59
It's like you kind of go, I've just had this huge show in Sydney or whatever.
02:01
What am I doing today?
02:02
Oh, I'm doing a screen print for someone's gig somewhere.
02:05
It's all fun.
02:06
I just make my own art and the people who like it like it
02:09
and the people who don't don't.
02:11
So love you.
Recommended
4:24
|
Up next
Vic government working on ongoing Indigenous representative body
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
2:42
Tasmanian legal centre sees spike in asylum claims from LGBTQIA+ people
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
2:49
Record number of Indigenous students graduate but education gap remains
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
3:35
Childcare advocates want urgent action on systemic sector reform
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
1:55
'FIFO criminals': $3 million elderly Chinese ‘blessing scam’ busted
Australian Community Media
yesterday
1:17
Meth in mosaic tiles: trio charged for $333 million drug plot
Australian Community Media
yesterday
1:30
Top real estate celebrity stories of 2025 so far
The Canberra Times
yesterday
1:06
The ‘white elephant’ of the Monaro
The Canberra Times
yesterday
0:33
Canberra Raiders fog run
The Canberra Times
yesterday
1:16
Alex Eala’s Wimbledon campaign officially comes to an end
PTVPhilippines
yesterday
0:35
KQ touches down in Sacramento to chase NBA dream
PTVPhilippines
yesterday
0:43
Elijah Woods to hold Manila, Cebu concerts
PTVPhilippines
yesterday
1:50
Man charged over allegedly assaulting three police officers in Sydney's wesy
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
1:31
Keith Russell Yandle jailed for 32 years over shooting murder of Steven Murphy
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
3:36
How Aussie winemaker Ed Carr became a global star
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
1:59
Families fear reduced NDIS support as travel subsidies paid to allied health providers cut
ABC NEWS (Australia)
today
1:50
Brisbane Star Entertainment casino workers strike over pay negotiations amid ongoing financial woes
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
1:58
Traditional owners reopen Gunlom Falls in Kakadu after six-year closures
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
1:42
More than 20 thousand people expected to visit Alice Springs show
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
1:59
Tasmanian Labor says it's confident Jess Munday is eligible to contest this month's state election
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
5:36
How to talk to kids about safety at childcare and spot possible signs of abuse
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
4:34
NT youth crime law change to see kids ineligible for prison alternatives
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
1:44
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson apologises to customers for data breach
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
1:37
Man shot dead by police in regional Victoria after seven-hour stand off
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday
2:16
Police believe two men found dead in Sydney home died at different times
ABC NEWS (Australia)
yesterday