Bangarra: Ones Country

Posted on by Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

Ones Country – The Spine of Our Stories by Bangarra Dance Theatre was phenomenal. The dancing was based on mythology and storytelling from North East Arnhem Land, the Torres Strait Islands and contemporary Sydney. Nathu was about the elusive cycad nut; Place was about being Black and gay (incredibly pertinent given the recent success of the national postal survey on marriage equality that was passed by the Senate at the end of 2017); and Whistler was about the sacred significance of the dugong, a grey whale-like marine mammal. They’ve been protected by conservation legislation since 1999.  Continue reading Bangarra: Ones Country

Share the Spirit: Survival Day 2015

Posted on by Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

The 26th of January is Australia Day and a national holiday. Various events happen all over Melbourne, but some of these recognise that this day raises important issues about Indigenous culture in Australia. Protests over colonialism have been ongoing since Europeans settled in Australia in 1788. On the 26th of January 1938, 150 years after the decimation of Indigenous people began, William Cooper (leader with the Australian Aboriginal League) together with Jack Patten and William Ferguson (the Aboriginal Progressive Association) declared the first “Day of Mourning,” a day recognising the history of colonial violence and dispossession. Survival Day events represent the resilience and contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who collectively make up the world’s oldest, continuous culture.

I attended the Share the Spirit festival, hosted by Songlines Music. This event has been running at the Treasury Garden since 2002. Together with similar events in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and elsewhere, they are amongst the biggest Indigenous cultural events in Australia. Continue reading Share the Spirit: Survival Day 2015