Movies Even an Engineer Would Love: Stories About Culture and Technology “Bush Mechanics”

• Event Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
• Time: 7:00 pm (CST)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

• Film

Engineering and Technology Studies at Illinois
Program in Science and Technology Studies
Movies Even an Engineer Would Love: Stories About Culture and Technology

"Bush Mechanics"
(David Batty and Francis Jupurrula Kelly, 2003, 30 min./episode)

What do you do when your car breaks down in the Australian outback? Bush Mechanics celebrates automotive ingenuity among the indigenous peoples of Yuendumu, Australia. Produced by an Aboriginal media collective in the Western Desert, it includes lessons such as how to make a clutch out of wood and how to use the windshield wiper reservoir as a fuel pump.

In this film series, each story shows the human dramas of the modern technologies that surround us. The technological systems seen here invite us to consider the relationships between technical decisions and sustainability, culture, and identity. Join us for screenings of these award-winning films, each followed by a brief discussion.

Museum visitors are reminded that outside food and drinks are not allowed in the Museum. Backpacks and other large items brought to the Museum will have to be stored; there is limited locker storage space available for these items.