Viewings

Alick and Albert Directed by Douglas Watkin; written by Trish Lake, Alick Tipoti and Douglas Watkin; starring Prince Albert of Monaco and Alick Tipoti. Now screening on Stan; also available for special screenings in cinemas. More information at AlickandAlbert.com

Different lenses

Two worlds, one ocean

THE FILM ALICK AND ALBERT, produced by Freshwater Pictures and released in Australia in December 2021, captures a beautiful friendship that developed between one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists, Alick Tipoti, and Prince Albert of Monaco. The men’s shared passion for environmental advocacy is explored through two very different lenses, culminating in a week-long visit to Badu Island by the prince and a return visit by Tipoti to Monaco. In a classic fish-out-of-water premise, the prince’s initial reactions to his arrival on Badu are contrasted throughout the film with his royal lifestyle in Monaco. Alick and Albert visit each other’s homes and workplaces. The scenes of Alick in Monaco and Albert in Badu present some of the more light-hearted moments. At no stage does Prince Albert demonstrate any sense of awkwardness relating to his arrival or time on the Island. His willingness to engage with the island’s children playing in the streets, and even collecting rubbish along the beach, shows his humble willingness to be a part of the everyday life of Badu Islanders.

Prince Albert of Monaco and artist Alick Tipoti on Alick’s home island of Badu in Torres Strait. All images courtesy Freshwater Productions The scenes of Alick in Monaco and Albert in Badu present some of the more light-hearted moments

Alick’s work was first introduced to Prince Albert through an exhibition held in 2016 at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco

01 Tipoti’s work Turtle mating and nesting season covered around 670 square metres of the roof of Monaco’s Oceanographic Museum 02 Prince Albert with Alick Tipoti (far right) and Badu Islanders.

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The main focus of the film is the protagonists’ passion for best-practice management of the environment

Alick Tipoti is a cultural leader on the island of Badu in Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait). He is an artist and linguist who explores the history, traditions and sustainability of the culture and community of Badu Islanders, whose lives are governed by the land, seas and skies of their island home.

Alick’s work was first introduced to Prince Albert through an exhibition held in 2016 at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. The film captures the prince’s astonishment at seeing Alick Tipoti’s works Turtle mating and nesting season and the magnificent Kisay Dhangal, a life-sized bronze dugong sculpture. Turtle mating and nesting season covered around 670 square metres of the roof of the Oceanographic Museum, which was founded by Prince Albert’s grandfather in 1910. The contrast between the lives of the film’s protagonists – bridging the Principality of Monaco, a sovereign city-state on the French Riviera, and Badu Island in the western Torres Strait – is fascinating, but the main focus of the film is their passion for best-practice management of the environment. That this is an ongoing process in both nations becomes increasingly evident as the film progresses. Perhaps one of the more touching moments of this film is the prince’s delight at hearing stories of the impact that his mother, Princess Grace – formerly Hollywood actress Grace Kelly – had on Tipoti’s mother’s generation. ‘It’s just incredible that so many years after her passing she still very much has a vivid presence in a lot of people’s minds and hearts,’ the prince has said previously. Alick and Albert transcend a binary representation of the issues dominating our media about climate change. The film advocates for the ocean environment by revealing how Badu identity, cultural practices and beliefs are informed by a deep-time understanding of the marine environment, and shows how these understandings in no way differ from what motivates Prince Albert’s hopes for his nation. Alick’s and Albert’s two nations may be worlds apart, but they are united by their shared vision of a better future for all.

Reviewer Matt Poll is the museum’s Manager of Indigenous Programs.

Kisay Dhangal, along with other works by Alick Tipoti, is currently on display in his exhibition Mariw Minaral (Spiritual Patterns) at the museum.