Guwanyi – 3rd National Aboriginal Writers’ Festival

The NSW Writers' Centre

This month the 3rd National Aboriginal Writers’ Festival will be held at the NSW Writer’s Centre in Rozelle on March 19th. The all-day event, titled ‘Guwanyi’ which means ‘to tell’, celebrates the oral traditions and written influences of Aboriginal cultures on contemporary Australian society. Featured speakers include authors Dr. Anita Heiss, Peter Minter and Bruce Pascoe. The day covers topics such as:

• A History of Aboriginal Writing
• The Future of Indigenous Literature
• Getting Indigenous Stories out there
• Poetic Justice

The day commences at 10am and finishes with drinks ‘On The Veranda’ at 5-6pm. It will be a great place to hear from established authors and meet Australia’s emerging writing talent.

Garrangali win 2010 Indigenous Music Awards

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Northern Territories ‘Reggae & Roots’ band Garrangali has won best Album of the Year and best Song of the Year in the 2010 Indigenous Music Awards with their album ‘Garrangali (Crocodile Nest) and its winning song ‘Searights’ – beating singer Jessica Mauboy who was also a contender for the awards.

‘Searights’ celebrates the recognition of native title to the tidal zone & sea around Blue Mud Bay as established in the Supreme Court by ‘The Blue Mud Bay Decision’.

The band members mostly live in Yilpara (Blue Mud Bay) in Arnhem Land and sing in their indigenous Yolngu language. The album, which was launched in March this year, features the Yidaki (didgeridoo).

‘Mari Nawi’ Exhibition at The State Library of New South Wales

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The ‘Mari Nawi’ exhibition, due to open at the State Library of NSW on September 20th, highlights the significant role that Sydney’s indigenous Darug and Eora nations played in Australia’s early maritime history. Traveling on English ships, which they referred to as ‘Mari Nawi’ (meaning ‘large canoes’), they sailed through Port Jackson and throughout the world during the years between 1790 and 1850. Featuring rarely seen oil paintings, sketches, journals and maps, the exhibition is curated by historian Dr Keith Vincent Smith and can be viewed until 12 December 2010.

Movie Review: Australia (2008)

Baz Luhrmann‘s ‘Australia’ is set around the time of the World War II bombing of Darwin. The aristocratic Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) leaves England for Australia, in order to encourage her husband to settle the sale of their cattle farm ‘Faraway Downs’. She arrives to unexpected circumstances and takes on the challenge that these present, delaying her return to England. In Australia she meets The Drover (Hugh Jackman) and Nullah (Brandon Walters), a part-Aboriginal child. Both have a profound affect on her and change the course of her journey.

‘Australia’ is a well-scripted, beautiful story about identity, connectedness and belonging, set in Australia’s rural north. With a score as grand as the landscape, this movie is a cinematographic celebration of Australia’s magnificent beauty. It is, as David Letterman put it, “a love-letter to Australia”. The movie pays tribute to the cultural depth and connectedness of this country’s indigenous heritage through the sensitive portayal of Nullah’s bond with King George (David Gulpilil). This 3-hour romantic epic truly takes you there.