Start: 2012-01-08T01:00:00
End: 2012-01-08T05:00:00
Location: CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh
The official opening ceremonies for Black
Capital Family and Culture Day start at midday with a Welcome to Country, kicking off a colourful and
fun-filled program of storytelling, music, art, performance and food.
Be entertained by highlights from Erth’s latest puppet and multimedia spectacle, I Bunyip.
Discover the latest music sensations from the Gadigal Music label –
Marcus Corowa, Jess Beck and Duke Box. Sample delicious Indigenous
fusion cuisine from Yaama Dhiyaan and keep your eyes peeled for members
of the South Sydney Rabbitohs who’ll be around on the day. To everyone,
that’s a big Black Capital welcome to Redfern.
This is a free event.
The doors also open on two Free Exhibitions at CarriageWorks on 8th January 2012 that you can visit. These are:
Travelling Colony – January 8 – March 4 10am-6pm daily and open late on performance nights.
Travelling Colony is a major new work by Brook Andrew, whose
interdisciplinary arts practice travels internationally. For two
decades this celebrated artist has been creating astonishing
interventions into history through installation and interactive
monuments, playfully seducing audiences into new ways of seeing
compelling issues of race, consumerism and history.
Inspired
by his Wiradjuri tradition, the circus and pop culture, Andrew has
created a cavalcade of dazzling handpainted caravans in the huge
industrial foyer of Carriageworks. Enter each of the caravans in Travelling Colony and immerse yourself in the stories of Redfern – its personalities, struggles and community.
Through
this whirling zig-zag of caravans, archival footage, reflections and
projections, visitors will be inspired by the histories of Redfern. Brook Andrew appears as part of our free talks program Microscope: Festival Artists in conversation with Caroline Baum.
181 Regent St: Addressing Black Theatre Exhibition – January 8-29, 10am-6pm daily
In
1972 the National Black Theatre emerged from Regent Street, Redfern
with an explosion of plays, dance, activist poetry, biting satire and
street theatre, giving new voice to the struggles of the 1970s and the
Redfern Aboriginal community.
During its five years of operation,
this astonishing cultural renaissance spawned landmark playwrights such
as Kevin Gilbert, Robert Merritt and Jack Davis, as well as the careers
of remarkable actors such as Bob Maza, Lillian Crombie and Justine
Saunders, cultural activist Gary Foley and director Brian Syron.
Curator
Rhoda Roberts, one of Australia’s leading arts practitioners and from
the first generation of actors to reap the benefits of the early years
of National Black Theatre, creates a compelling program of work
celebrating the past and future of black theatre in Australia.
The
pervasive legacy of 181 Regent St and this extraordinary time is
explored in a special anniversary exhibition that draws on personal
archives, film and photographs to tell the story of the National Black
Theatre and the people who were involved.
Covering pioneering works such as The Cherry Pickers and The Cake Man
the exhibition considers where it all began and the ongoing influence
of the National Black Theatre on contemporary Aboriginal theatre today.
Presented by Sydney Festival and Carriageworks in association with ABC. Symposium: January 14, 10am-4.30pm
Two paid Sydney Festival events also start on 8th January at CarriageWorks. These are:
I Am Eora – January 8, 14 at 5pm January 10-14 at 8.30pm
Fifty Aboriginal musicians, performers, creative artists and technicians
from across the country come together for one of the most thrilling
collaborations ever commissioned by Sydney Festival.
Writer/director
Wesley Enoch, co-writer Anita Heiss and their team create a dynamic
fusion of storytelling, dance, performance and film featuring a cast of
iconic and emerging performers including Jack Charles, Wilma Reading,
Frank Yamma, Stiff Gins, Radical Son and a rockin’ live band.
At
the centre of the work are three heroes of Aboriginal Sydney whose
enduring spirits still inspire: the protest and resistance of the
warrior Pemulwuy; the female embodiment of resilience, Barangaroo; and
her controversial husband Bennelong, the gifted interpreter who sought
reconciliation.
I Am Eora (I am of this place)
breaks new ground in contemporary Australian performance, telling the
stories of Sydney’s Aboriginal continuity in a celebration of its
heroes.
Walk a Mile in My Shoes – January 8 & 11 at 3pm and 8 – 11 at 7pm
The Barefoot Divas are six soulful singers and songwriters from
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea – each a star in her own
right, together a force to be reckoned with.
Helpmann Award
winner Ursula Yovich (Serbia/Burarra)and Black Arm Band favourite Emma
Donovan (Gumbaynggirr) are joined by their sisters Whirimako Black
(Maori), Maisey Rika (Maori), Merenia (Maori/Roma) and Ngaiire (Papua
New Guinea) to share hilarious stories of diva life on the stage and on
the road, fortified by deep connections to their land and Indigenous
cultures.
Directed by Vicki Gordon, written by Alana Valentine and with music directed by Adam Ventoura, Walk a Mile in My Shoes is an uplifting expression of shared culture, community and the power of song.