Aboriginal culture at the Darwin Festival

The annual Darwin Festival ran for eighteen days and nights until 30 August 2009. There were 'local and touring performances and events including outdoor concerts, workshops, theatre, dance music, comedy and cabaret, film and visual arts. During the Festival, Darwin buzzed with performers, artists, locals and visitors enjoying the vibrant and colourful atmosphere and festivities of the Darwin Festival’. One of the highlights of the Festival was the performance by Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, an outstanding aboriginal musician, who always sings in his own mother tongue with a truly magical voice.

For me one of the most significant aspects of the annual festival is the participation of indigenous aboriginal artists. This festival has clearly managed to incorporate in a major way the involvement of the aboriginal communities to develop and express their cultural treasures and talents. 

Just like many other major Australian cities Darwin is also very multicultural with more than one hundred nationalities represented within its members. The significant participation of the aboriginal communities in the Darwin Festival and the respect and appreciation given to them is a sign that after hundreds of years of persecution and marginalisation better days are probably ahead for Australia’s native peoples. 

Aboriginal culture is more than 50,000 years old, developed in relative isolation from outside influences.  However, as Australia is a vast land with many aboriginal nationalities and tribes living in different regions the cultural development of the people took place through interactions between the various peoples of the continent- over a period of fifty thousand years. 

Due to outside colonisation and marginalisation of the aboriginal peoples very little opportunities arose for their rich cultural treasures to become known and enjoyed by others around the world. The potential benefits that humanity can gain from aboriginal cultural treasures - 50,000 years in the making - is becoming more clear every day from the popularity of their paintings.  They have become sought after items and the beauty and colours of the artwork produced are just breathtaking and awe inspiring. 

Sometimes it is hard to believe that a simple people, as aboriginals have been portrayed historically, are producing such beautiful masterpieces. However, it is true and it shows that they are not primitive but that they have a very rich culture indeed.  If allowed and encouraged to develop who knows what their true future contributions will be on humanity.

As a celebration of the participation of the aboriginal people in the Darwin Festival I was a hoping to write an interview article on Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.  He is a blind singer with a magical voice that penetrates straight into the heart.  He was one of the special guests that performed at the 6^th Annual Indigenous Music Awards 2009 that take place on 21 August 2009.  Unfortunetly due to his extremely busy schedule involved in the preparation of an imminent overseas tour it was not possible to undertake the interview.  I will be making attempts to interview other aboriginal artists involved in the Darwin Festival and write about their stories in the future.  

I would like to thank Chryss Carr who is involved with the PR section of the Festival for providing valuable information and trying to facilitate an interview with Geoffrey and others.