Bush Mechanics

Warlpiri Media Association (now Pintubi Anmatjere Warlpiri Media)

Company type	Media production company
Industry	Television production
Headquarters	Yuendumu , Australia
Products	Television series (Bush Mechanics)

Bush Mechanics is an Australian television docudrama series from 2001, directed by David Batty and Francis Jupurrurla Kelly. It was produced by the Warlpiri Media Association, now known as Pintubi Anmatjere Warlpiri (PAW) Media. The series presents a motor mechanics narrative from an Aboriginal Australian viewpoint, featuring members of the Warlpiri community and filmed in and around Yuendumu, a mainly Indigenous settlement in the Northern Territory.

Between 2018 and 2019, a traveling exhibition inspired by the series toured various Australian museums. This was accompanied by a related book released in 2017.

Description

The four-episode series Bush Mechanics, directed by David Batty and Francis Jupurrurla Kelly and produced by the Warlpiri Media Association, first aired in 2001.

Within Australian vernacular, a bush mechanic refers to someone who repairs machinery using creative solutions and whatever materials are at hand. The program follows Warlpiri individuals from Yuendumu as they fix vehicles during journeys across Central Australia's desert landscape, employing innovative and unexpected bush repair methods. Central personalities include Jack Jakamarra, an Aboriginal elder who offers introductory commentary reflecting on early interactions with white Australians, alongside Jupurrula, known as the "magic mechanic," who appears to provide assistance during critical moments.

This series expanded on an earlier half-hour documentary that had gained international recognition. Broadcast on ABC Television Australia from October through December 2001, it consists of four episodes:

1. Motorcar Ngutju (Good Motorcar)
2. Payback
3. The Chase
4. The Rainmakers

Significantly, much of the dialogue is delivered in Warlpiri and Kriol languages, marking it as one of the earliest media projects predominantly featuring Aboriginal Australian languages.

Episodes

In the first episode, a station wagon transporting band equipment on its roof suffers a collapse of its rear section. The group removes the roof using an axe, flips it upside down, secures it to the vehicle's rear to serve as a makeshift trailer, then reloads their gear onto it. They proceed along the sandy track, towing the roof behind them.

Reception

The series has been acclaimed as one of Australia's most distinctive and well-loved television productions, earning a status described as "iconic." It later achieved bestseller status as a DVD release.

Awards

• Francis Jupurrula Kelly received the Australian Film Institute Open Craft Award for originating the concept.

Exhibition and book

A 2018 exhibition inspired by Bush Mechanics was created collaboratively by the National Motor Museum (under the History Trust of South Australia) and Pintubi Anmatjere Warlpiri (PAW) Media. It premiered at the Melbourne Museum in March 2018 before embarking on a national tour that concluded at the National Museum of Australia between December 2018 and February 2019. To complement this exhibition, Mandy Paul authored Bush mechanics: from Yuendumu to the world, published in 2017.