At an Irish bar in Melbourne on 22 April 2026, Dr Olivia Ball from the Melbourne City Council launched the exhibition of paintings in Jacob and the Cassowary, the fatidic short story about the West Papuans David-and-Goliath struggle against the Indonesian colonial occupation. The parable was written by Gipson Suu from Nalca in the highlands of West Papua, who is working in Melbourne while the Australian government considers his application for asylum. Artist Michael Molony is a teacher at the Academy of Mary Immaculate, the Catholic girls secondary college in Fitzroy. Six of the eleven paintings sold during the one-night pop-up exhibition.
Melbourne City Councillor Dr Olivia Ball and artist Michael Molony (Photo-Michaela Stubbs, 3CR Radio)
“Gipson’s story is a beacon of international law, of the ideal of a just world. In his story, Jacob lives up to his vision of a better world when he tells the crocodile not to eat the Indonesian president, but instead take him to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. This is not a soft option. This is justice. And moral courage. And more than that, Gipson’s narrative sees an end to impunity: not just for Prabowo, but for all the Indonesian presidents who have colonised, oppressed, robbed and terrorised West Papuans since 1963. The crocodile takes them all to the Hague! What a message of moral clarity in these times.”
Both Dr Ball and Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins believe Jacob and the Cassowary is a parable; the Bishop seeing “the compassionate heart of God working through faithful souls;” Dr Ball seeing “a beacon of international law, the ideal of a just world.” (see Summary, below).
Dr Ball’s Inspiring Addresss (11-min video)
Dr Ball’s Inspiring Address (PDF)
Dr Ball’s Address, Bard’s Apothecary, 22 April 2026
Gipson’s letter from Pope Leo XIV
A feature of the exhibition was a letter from Pope Leo XIV, thanking Gipson for the copy of Jacob and the Cassowary presented to him by Augustine Doronila and Cecilia Capuzzi during the Focolare Institute’s Annual General Meeting in the Vatican.
Michael Molony helping Gipson Suu open his letter from Pope Leo XIV (Photo: Dr Olivia Ball)
Gipson and Dr Jacob Rumbiak had asked Augustine and Cecilia to present Jacob and the Cassowary to the Pope during a Roundtable of faith leaders, educators, researchers, community organisers and citizens in Melbourne wanting to contribute to a more peaceful harmonious Australia (https://religionsforpeaceaustralia.org.au/?p=22804)
Gipson Suu entrusting Bishop Philip Huggins, Augustine Doronila, and Cecilia Capuzzi, with Jacob and the Cassowary (Roundtable, Focolare Institute, Melbourne, 31 January 2026)
Pope Leo XIV’s letter to Gipson Suu, Vatican City, 6 April 2026
Homage to Nonie Sharpe (3 slides)
MC Maeve Clancy and Gipson Suu at Bard’s Apothecary on 22 April 2026 (Photo: Dr Deidre Giblin)
Maeve Clancy, grand-daughter of eminent anthropologist Nonie Sharpe, was Mistress of the Ceremony at Bard’s Apothecary. Dr Sharpe wrote pathbreaking works on the indigenous peoples of West Papua, Cape York, and Torres Strait. She is known, though rarely acknowledged, for her foundational work in the Mabo case, but is not known for her work on West Papua. The Rule of the Sword [1977] was the first academic inquiry into ‘Indonesian’ West Papua, fourteen years after the Indonesian taken over! No one wanted to know what the Indonesians were doing inside the Melanesian territory, and the book was printed in an old shed on Nonie’s rural property. The Morning Star in Papua Barat [1994] explored the fundamentals of Papuan nation-making; how their cultures underpin their political thinking and structures. Meaning there is a profound history behind the design of their Morning Star flag (first raised well before the Indonesian takeover) and why you probably won’t find them considering Westminister-style infrastructure. Interestingly, Nonie also found that the Torres Strait Islanders’ celebrated god Malo came from the Marind tribe in West Papua, who Australian soldiers worked closely with during World War II.
Jacob and the Cassowary, Exhibition Catalogue (PDF)
Michael’s exhibition, Descripto_compressed (1)
Jacob and the Cassowary: the whole story (PDF)
Freedom Song, by Mautodo QL at https://youtu.be/V51458Ipu48 Timorese musician Mautodo QL used an AI tool to generate Freedom Song from the text of Jacob and the Cassowary.
Jacob Rumbiak and Dr Olivia Ball at Bard’s Apothecary on 22 April 2026 (Photo: Dr Deidre Giblin)
Ribka Ovide, who is studying aeronautical engineering at RMIT, pointing to her place in Jacob and the Cassowary ‘flying the Australians to the independence celebration in Jayapura’ (Photo: Dr Deidre Giblin)
Looking to buy Jacob and the Cassowary?
Paperback with full colour artwork, 32 pages, 210 x 210mm, available ($24.95) at the West Papua Office (211, 838 Collins Street, Docklands) or online at https://westpapuawomensoffice.square.site/.
Jacob and the Cassowary was launched on 15 March 2026 at the West Papua Office in Docklands. It sold well at the DeGrowth Festival in Carlton the following week and at the Palm Sunday Rally on 29 March 2026 and is now in its second print run. It is opening the Pacific Festival in The Netherlands on 15 August 2026.
Jacob and the Cassowary at the Solidarity Rally for Refugees on Palm Sunday
Gipson Suu and Michael Molony, Palm Sunday Rally, Melbourne 29 April 2026 (Photo: Willem Walilo)
Gipson Suu in the Palm Sunday Procession beside Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece (Photo: Dunn)
Gipson Suu and Willem Walilo carrying West Papua’s Morning Star flag, Solidarity Rally for Refugees, Palm Sunday, Melbourne (Photo: Dunn)
