Mubali Belly Casting Talk and Exhibition

Proudly presented by the ANU Gender Institute, ANU School of Sociology, and ANU School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics

Indigenous women from Moree in northwest NSW will visit the ANU to mark ACT Mental Health Week, and share the Mubali: Sea of Bellies program.

Belly Yarn” Talk by Aunty Paula Duncan, 11:00am to 12:00pm, Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre, ANU (Building 12), Melville Hall, Ellery Cres, Acton

A talk by Moree Community Elder Aunty Paula Duncan on her reflections on the Mubali: Sea of Bellies Aboriginal Maternal Health and Wellbeing project.

Followed by a Q and A session with the Moree women.  Welcome to Country and smoking Ceremony by Matilda House.

Since 2004 the Mubali program has utilised art as a soft entry point for engaging pregnant women with maternal health services.

Additionally, the program aims to foster bonds between the women and re-connect them to culture and community.

This event would be of interest to a broad range of people including those interested in anthropology, sociology, population health, gender studies, art and design as well as public policy.

“Belly Yarn” Exhibition Launch, 12:00pm- 12.30pm, Prompt Gallery (in the ANU pop-up village)

This exhibition brings into dialogue two distinct projects relating to pregnancy belly casting (ie. the practice of making plaster moulds of the pregnant torso).

On one side women from Moree, NSW who have participated in Beyond Empathy’s Mubali: Sea of Bellies belly casting program proudly display painted pregnant torsos. 

On the other, ANU PhD Candidate in Gender Sexuality and Culture, Bianca Williams, provides an overview of her research into the practice of pregnancy belly casting through a display of artifacts.