Yidaki: The Sound of Australia

Yidaki, at the South Australian Museum

I have been promoting the Yidaki exhibition currently taking place at the South Australian Museum for several weeks. Now that I have finally found time to edit together footage I recorded at the exhibition, it is time to say more about the show.

Yidaki (pronounced, Yid-ar-ki), is the traditional Australian Aboriginal name for what most of the world knows as the didjeridu—that seemingly impossible to play wind instrument made from the trunks of the Stringybark tree, hollowed out by very obliging termites.

The exhibition, Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia, can hardly be called large. You could walk through the various exhibits in around ten minutes, but if that is all you were to do, you would miss all the most important parts of the show. The exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to explore this iconic instrument through sound, story, moving image and through close examination of rarely seen examples of the instruments on display throughout the exhibition space. While the didjeridu now appears in music venues and concert stages around the world (often played by non-Aboriginal practitioners), it is important to note its origins and its place in Aboriginal culture.

Although the didjeridu, as an instrument, has also spread throughout Australian Aboriginal communities, it is important to know that traditionally the instrument was originally confined to tribes and clans that inhabited the far northern coastlines of Australia, today referred to as the Top End. More specifically, this exhibition focuses on the place the didjeridu has in Yolngu (pron,Yoll-nu) culture, where the instrument is called the yidaki.

Djalu Gurruwiwi, Yolngu people, Galpu clan. Yidaki virtuoso with yidaki. Image: SA Museum.

For the Yolngu people of North East Arnhem Land, yidaki are not just musical instruments, they are social instruments, instruments of healing, and of spiritual life. The exhibition has been created in collaboration with Yolngu people, particularly with the world’s foremost authority on yidaki - Djalu Gurruwiwi, who with his family introduce visitors to the instrument, and to its power and meaning in Yolngu life.

Djalu is a senior member of the Galpu clan, from the Yolngu people of North East Arnhem Land. Amongst the Yolngu, and around the globe, he is a universally recognised authority and the musical and spiritual traditions of yidaki. A quietly spoken but passionate man … Djalu has spent his life trying to share a profound and reconciliatory worldview that starts and ends with his instrument. This exhibition is an expression of his life’s work to use yidaki in bridging the gaps of understanding between people.

Here is my short video montage:

The heart of the exhibition is contained in the many audio-visual exhibits that are placed throughout the room. I said, above, that you could walk through the exhibition space in under ten minutes, but that would be a waste of your time, effort and money. If you were to sit and watch every piece of video footage, and stand still and focus your attention on the many sounds of the Yidaki that fill the room with an ever changing soundscape, you can easily spend and hour or more learning about this remarkable instrument. The whole point of the exhibition is to give you a glimpse into Yolngu culture, from the Yolngu point of view. As the exhibition guide states: 

“Yidaki without sound are just sticks of wood. So this is not an exhibition about objects, but about what yidaki do, how they speak, and what story they tell. This is a Yolngu story, being told for you in Yolngu ways. There are no labels so you need to stop and listen every now and then. It will be good for you. Yolngu experts and custodians (through sound and screen) will guide you through the exhibition space—inviting you to explore the stringybark forest, voyage with the West Wind and become immersed in the mesmerising power of yidaki sound.”

One of the musicians that features prominently in the yidaki exhibition is William Barton. In the video below he can be seen performing a virtuoso composition of his own which showcases the incredible variety of sounds that a skilled yidaki player can produce on what is essentially a hollowed out tree limb. Note: William Barton’s performance does not begin until just after the 2:30 mark.

If You Go

Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia

At the South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide

Now through until July 16, 2017

Hours: 10am - 5pm daily 

Admission

Adults: $17; Concession: $12; Child (aged 5-15): $5;

Children under 5 - FREE; Family (2 adults + 3 children) $35

Colebrook Reconciliation Park

The Grieving Mother figure at Colebrook Reconciliation Park

Colebrook Reconciliation Park in the Adelaide suburb, Eden Hills, was established in 1998 as a memorial to those Aboriginal children who were removed from their families and housed at Colebrook Home, a "United Aborigines" mission which had originated in Oodnadatta in 1924. Later, the mission moved to Quorn, before it was finally relocated to Eden Hills in 1942. The home was finally closed in 1972 and demolished in 1973.

"My baby, my baby..."

"My baby, my baby, please give back my baby."

A mother's words fall upon the deaf ears of authority.

Hearts break, tears fall, fear cries out

from the wrenched hands and arms of a mother and child separated.

Feel the pain, touch the ache, caress the tears.

Through ignorance and indifference came the disruption and destruction of family life.

~ AVIS EDWARDS, FORMER RESIDENT OF COLEBROOK HOME

For a brief period of time during the 1990’s, I was involved with the campaign to turn the site of the former mission (or home), into a permanent memorial to a generation of children who became known as the ‘Stolen Generation’. By 1998, following the success of the campaign involving a local reconciliation group and the Tji Tji Tjuta (former residents) of Colebrook Home, the Colebrook Reconciliation Park was born. In consultation with former residents of the home, a local artist, Silvio Apponyi, was commissioned to create a number of statues to install on site.

The finished works are the Pool of Tears, created in 1998, and Grieving Mother installed in 1999.

One of the figures on the Pool of Tears memorial

…

Background information on site at Colebrook Reconciliation Park

It is important to acknowledge that while Colebrook did house children who had been forcibly removed from their families by government officials, not all native children who passed through the institution were ‘stolen’ from their families. Some were placed there because their parents were unable to care for them. Other children had been taken from their families by non-Indigenous people as workers, and then abandoned when their services were no longer needed.

Sadly, over time, many children eventually lost most, if not all, of their language, culture and identity. When some of these children finally met their parents many years later, it was almost impossible for parent and child to bridge the language and culture gap. Tragically, some children never saw their parents again.

"We are the stolen children..."

…

A montage of former residents of Colebrook House

Thanks to the ongoing work and support of the Colebrook Tji Tji Tjuta, the Blackwood Reconciliation Group, the Aboriginal Lands Trust, and other groups and agencies, the Colebrook Reconciliation Park is now a permanent memorial to these children and their families.

Former residents hold 'campfire' gatherings for adult groups and for school and university students, where they share their stories and achieve reconciliation through creation of compassion and empathy.

Another view of the Pool of Tears

…

More Information
~ Admission is Free
~ Visits can be self guided or can be arranged for group
~ Guest speakers can be organised for a fee

Getting There (see map below)
On Shepherds Hill Road (next to Karinya Reserve), Eden Hills.
Bus 728 or 729 from the City to bus stop 29B, Shepherds Hills Road, Eden Hills
Off-street parking available

Enquiries
Tji Tji Tjuta, Mandy Brown
Email: mandy.brown[@]countryart.org.au

The Blackwood Reconciliation Group Meets on the first Wednesday of Each Month
Contact Dennis Matthews via email: deebeemat[@]adam.com.au

Online:
Colebrook Blackwood Reconciliation Park…
Colebrook Home…

Here is a short video I shot of the Colebrook Reconciliation Park

Music is by the Aboriginal artist, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. The song is Bapa (Father), from his debut album Gurrumul.

Google Map showing location of Colebrook Reconciliation Park:

View Larger Map

Uluru (Ayers Rock) Climb to Close?

~ The big Australian travel story of the past 24 hours is a proposal to close the controversial climb to the top of Uluru/Ayers Rock.

‘Controversial’ because the traditional owners of Uluru have been lobbying for this to happen for many years, while tourists, travel industry operators, the government of the Northern Territory (and now the Federal Opposition), have fought against the proposal.

A draft management plan for the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park was released yesterday, recommending a ban for cultural and environmental reasons.

Currently, tourists visiting Uluru are left to make there own decisions regarding whether or not to climb Uluru. Effectively, they must decide for themselves whether they will ignore the wishes of the traditional Aboriginal owners, or whether they will respect them. Now that choice may be taken out of their hands.

Donald Fraser, a traditional owner of Uluru and a former chairman of the Uluru Kata Tjuta Board of Management has long been disturbed by the sight of people climbing the monolith.

“It's a very sensitive area,” he said in a radio interview. “There's a lot of things involved in climbing. Firstly the danger of people falling down and killing themselves,” Mr. Fraser said. And his concerns are real. More than 35 people have died while climbing Uluru, often in extreme heat. In fact, there is already a ban on climbing the rock whenever the temperature reaches 35C (95F).

Uluru is visited by around 350,000 people a year, about half of whom are from overseas. According to the Government's figures, about 100,000 people climb the 346-metre high rock each year against the wishes of the traditional owners.

However, some operators already ask people on their tours not to climb the rock.

Phil Taylor, a tour operator based in Alice Springs said, “We respect the wishes of the traditional owners, and explain to the people the cultural significance that Uluru has for the Anangu people. As a result of that, our figures show that 95 per cent of the passengers that we carry do not climb the rock,” Mr. Taylor said.

Of course there is a lot more to Uluru than just the chance to climb it.

Many tourists go to Uluru seeking to interact with Indigenous people and to be exposed to their culture. Simply climbing Uluru does not give them that opportunity. In fact, most visitors will never be given the chance to even talk with the traditional owners during their visit to the site.

Traditional owner, Donald Fraser says the idea isn't to drive tourists away, but to give tourists and Indigenous people a richer experience in the park.

“There's a lot of other things for the people to see; walk around and learn culture and everything else in a steady way, not only the climb. We're not hunting the tourists away, we're inviting them to come and learn about us and about our culture,” Mr. Fraser said.

Another traditional owner of Uluru, Vince Forrester, said he was relieved a ban on climbing the iconic rock was one step closer to becoming a reality. He said the rock was sacred to the local Aboriginal people and traditional owners have wanted the climb closed since the park was handed back to them in 1985.

Mr Forrester said tourism operators should not be concerned about the closure. "The visitors will get more information by walking around the base of Uluru and getting told the stories which Aboriginal people are available to do," he said.

Commenting on some of the environmental concerns, the Director of National Parks, Peter Cochrane, said there were concern about erosion, and "…there are no toilets on the top of the rock. So human behaviour up there means that we get run-off fouling water holes, and having impacts on plants and animals and the health of Aboriginal kids who play in those water holes," he said.

Clearly, Mr Cochrane was being very circumspect here. This behaviour is akin to visitors urinating against the ‘Wailing Wall’ in Jerusalem, or defecating in the grounds of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

Given that Uluru is probably the most sacred of all Aboriginal sacred sites, it is hard to know how one could treat their culture with less respect – or offend them more.

The draft management plan, which is open to public comment for the next two months, notes that recent surveys show 98 per cent of people would not be put off visiting the area if they were not allowed to climb the rock. The plan could come into effect within 18 months, but must first go through a consultation process and be signed off by Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett.

More Information
Listen to an ABC radio interview about the proposed ban here…

Or you can read more here...

And here… Plan to ban climbers from Uluru…

Image courtesy of AAP

Aboriginal Attractions Around Adelaide

~ Kaurna people and Kaurna land
The Kaurna people (pronounced, Garna) are the traditional Aboriginal owners of the area now called, Adelaide. Kaurna land stretches along a narrow corridor across 29 council areas from Cape Jervis in the south, to Broughton in the north.

The Adelaide City Council works closely with the Kaurna people on specific initiatives that include giving all 29 parks around Adelaide Kaurna names, and assigning dual names to prominent sites around the city. For example, Victoria Square, in the heart of the city is also called Tarndanyangga, an Aboriginal name meaning a place of the Red Kangaroo Dreaming. The River Torrens has the dual name, Karrawirra Parri, or red gum forest river, in the Kaurna language.

There are several locations that should be on everyone’s itinerary if they are at all interested in Aboriginal culture. These attractions and their locations are detailed in the rest of this feature .

Tandanya (the National Aboriginal Cultural Institute)
Established in 1989, Tandanya is Australia’s oldest Aboriginal owned and managed multi-arts centre.

Tandanya is a visionary and vibrant place to explore and experience contemporary and traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. The centre features an ongoing performing and visual arts program, exhibitions, tours, a cultural presentations and performances.

Tandanya is open daily from 10am to 5pm
(except Good Friday, Christmas and New Years Day).
Entry: Free into gallery spaces
Performances: Adult $5, Concession/Kids $3
Address: 253 Grenfell Street, Adelaide

The South Australian Museum
For over a century the South Australian Museum has been involved in the collection, study, display and interpretation of Australia's Aboriginal cultures.

The Museum’s Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery holds the largest display of Australian Aboriginal cultural objects in the world. Consisting of over 3000 artefacts, sound recordings, films, photographs, and manuscripts, the collection reveals the beauty and sophistication of Aboriginal culture.

The SA Museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm
(except Good Friday and Christmas Day)
Entry: Free
Location: North Terrace, Adelaide

Other places of interest include:

• The Piltawodli Memorial (off Memorial Drive) was installed in May 2000 to commemorate National Sorry Day. Piltawodli is a Kaurna word meaning ‘possum place’.
• Kaurna meyunna, Kaurna yerta tampendi (Recognising Kaurna people and Kaurna land) the reconciliation sculptural work in the forecourt to the Adelaide Festival Centre
• The Three Rivers Fountain (Victoria Square), commissioned by the Adelaide City Council to commemorate the 1968 visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
• Yerrakartarta, Kaurna for ‘at random’ or ‘without design’, in the forecourt of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on North Terrace, reflects the seemingly random order of the natural world and consists of various elements set within the pavement and surrounding walls.

More Information
A walking guide is available for visitors who want a more detailed, self-guided tour of the Kaurna and European history that abounds right across Adelaide. The guide is available from the SA Museum, the Adelaide Festival Centre, and the Adelaide City Council.

SOURCES: Adelaide City Council Aboriginal Attractions Guide
IMAGE: Courtesy Tandanya