The Dreaming - Australia's international indigenous festival - is a massive celebration of Indigenous performers, arts and culture held at the
Woodford Folk Festival site each June long weekend. The festival offers a fantastic mix of performances, films, forums and art, and leaves you with an overwhelming feeling of pride and respect for the diverse cultures that all Australians have such a unique opportunity to embrace and learn from.
Over the three days/four nights of the festival, you can expect to be entertained by musicians playing anything from funk/reggae, rap, country, and everything in between - some names of note this year were
Blue King Brown,
Oka and
Street Warriors. Fast becoming one of my favourite comedians,
Sean Choolburra left us in stitches once again with his high-energy show ending with another contemporary dance routine performed in a lycra wrestling-leotard.
Tjupurru, a Brisbane-based international didgeridoo performer playing alongside his 11-year old son Jandamarra, entranced the crowd with awesome electronic beats. I felt honoured to witness much of the traditional dance and ceremony performed by tribes from all corners of Australia, many of which had not been performed outside their country prior to the festival. And finally, my favourite part of the festival, was sitting around one of the many bonfires each night and talking to wonderful people from all walks of life.
The forums we attended were excellent. People like
Anita Heiss,
Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Aden Ridgeway and
Stephen Hagan all provided such an important reminder of how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and history must be acknowledged and respected by every Australian citizen before we have any chance of moving towards equality in Australia.
The festival was clouded with the death of one of the performers, a dancer from
Pormpuraaw, during the opening ceremony. A man in his 30's, it was a stark reminder for the continuation of the festival of the fact that the life expectancy of an Aboriginal man is currently 17 years younger than any other Australian man. Oxfam are currently campaigning on this very issue and are collecting signatures to demand drastic action be taken to close the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Please go to
http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/indigenous/health.php to sign the pledge and find out more.
So in summary, The Dreaming festival takes you on a wild ride. Over the three days, my feelings peaked and troughed along the lines of feeling completely uplifted, inspired, disgusted, intensely angry, challenged, proud, amazed, ecstatic, humbled, ashamed, sad, refreshed... but above all, highly motivated to make sure I do everything I can in my small circle of influence to challenge stereotypes, reject racism and demand change.
Personally, I'm dreaming of a time when our country decides to grow up and pay well-overdue respect and recognition to the Indigenous peoples and cultures of Australia.
Labels: Matt and Rachel
