BLAKTIVISM-A Night Of First Nation Artistic Activism
Yothu Yindi Featured with a deadly closing set
BLAKTIVSM
Hamer Hall-Naarm (Melbourne)
8 December 2022
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this article may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.
This was an evening of ceremony and song. Songs of healing and songs of protest. First Nation musical activism and a chance for the original people and their supporters to commune.
Tonight was a chance to display how much we need ancestral indigenous knowledge and culture in our lives, whether we be First Nation or not. If not, we can learn so much from the culture and the use of ceremony and stories. This knowledge will teach us how to live a better way.
The way we live now has not worked out so well, has it?
Hearing the First Nation Community tonight use their language and dialects in telling stories brought a whiff of life and strong mojo to Hamer Hall.
You could feel the tears, anger, and love in the room. My soul was warmed and energised by the gathering. My heart still breaks thinking of the history of this land and how the original people have been treated.
There is strength in telling the stories. These are the stories that tell us how we got to where we are today. They are endless and as long as life. A serpent that moves through this land and the people who own it.
Musical director Deline Briscoe had this to say about Blaktivism, which premiered in 2021, about how she feels about this ceremony and performance.
“So, I thought, ‘Right, I really want to acknowledge the ones that have been doing it for a long time and are still here and they have a song and story and to create a space, not just on stage, but off the stage to acknowledge these people. That’s the core of BLAKTIVISM. It’s still a cultural practice in this new political landscape that we have. To transfer the knowledge and acknowledgment of our elders is a cultural practice so it’s just continuing that and somewhere there was a disconnect from that. I wanted to create a space where everyone can be celebrated; the young ones, the mid-career people, and the ones that have been doing it for a long time so we can learn from each other. That’s why I thought this was an important show to put on.”
The joy and heartfelt singing of Emma Donovan, Lou Bennett, Kee’Ahn, and others was spellbinding. You knew whose country we were in. It was simple and pure and moving. And you knew the force of the feminine is the power we need to latch onto, to take us back home to where we belong.
This was the power of THE people. Deadly.
Sorong Samari. This is electrifying music of resistance, coming from Sorong, on the Northwest tip of West Papua and Samarai on the South East tip of PNG. True activism through very energetic dance and song.
There were others who shared their stories throughout the evening and Bart Willoughby and Gurridyula cannot go unmentioned.
Yothu Yindi brought cultural, storytelling, and music to us in a heartwarming set of tunes. They also got people to their feet. Dance and movement, song and stories, on and off the stage. You could feel the weaving of the thread through the community that had gathered. Mother and child, father and son, the lineage of this band continues here and within the band King Stingray and all around this land.
There is so much healing in this sharing. Let awareness and our hearts always be open.
