Melbourne supporters: Join us for a great couple of hours at Bard’s Apothecary, the great little bar off Bourke Street up near Parliament House, for the 2nd launch of Jacob and the Cassowary by West Papua’s Gipson Suu and artist Michael Molony.
Guest Speaker is Olivia Ball from the Melbourne City Council, alongside Gipson (who’s signing books), and a Pop Up exhibition (and sale) of Michael Molony’s glorious original paintings.
The title painting has already been sold, my pick is the one where the eager old crocodile asks Jacob if he wants him to eat Indonesian President Prabowo and his Lusitano stallion (ps/ there’s no text on the painting). Note the four horsemen of the apocalypse galloping away 
‘Pop up’ also means ‘Pop Down, meaning the paintings are on show for one-night-only. Most are small (24cm x 24cm) and perfect for the modern apartment, as well as consciously priced at $350, with all proceeds to the West Papua Womens Office in Docklands.
GIPSON SUU is from Nalca in the highlands of West Papua. He is working and studying in Melbourne while the Australian government is considering his application for asylum, and is an active member of the West Papua office in Docklands. Artist MICHAEL MOLONY teaches at the Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy, Victoria’s oldest Catholic girls’ secondary college.
Jacob and the Cassowary has been selling extraordinarily well at events and well-attended talks at the Degrowth Festival and Palm Sunday Rally. Last week in Rome the Pope was presented with a copy. There’s a collaboration underway to adapt the book into a short film. An East Timorese admirer has written a great reggae version, and there’s another launch in the Netherlands in September!
A very compressed PDF of all of Michael’s paintings for Jacob and the Cassowary
Michael’s exhibition, Descripto_compressed (1)
