Indigenous youth arts project to explore identity

Posted by Aboriginal Art Directory | 15.01.12

Young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Sunshine Coast and Gympie regions are being urged to come together to embrace and showcase their culture via song writing and recording, hip-hop dancing and art workshops based on the theme of identity.

The workshops, known as Sounds Like Me, are being run by United Synergies in partnership with local Indigenous creative artists, and will culminate in performances at the annual Booin Gari Festival, to be held on Tuesday, April 3. The festival is a celebration of the history and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Sunshine and Cooloola Coast region.

Program coordinator Leanne Milmlow said in order to connect with culture and the local area, the young people would kick off the series of workshops by participating in a cultural landscape tour– concluding the day with a bush tucker meal with mentors, artists and United Synergies staff.

This would allow the young people to get to know each other and allow the mentoring and support to begin - underpinning the success of the project, Leanne said.

Three workshops are planned, with participants able to select one, two or all three workshops.

Workshop 1 –Song writing and recording facilitated by De Greer-Yindimincarlie - will commence in early January 2012 – allowing 20 participants to work in groups of five (two days a week for eight weeks). Each group will compose, record a song and produce a CD which will be available at Booin Gari.

Workshop 2 - Local Indigenous fine artist - Peter 'Murray Djeripi' Mulcahy – will facilitate art workshops commencing in early February 2012. Twenty young people will work in four groups to produce their own expression of identity.

Workshop 3 – Hip hop dance facilitated by a professional dance company Contact Inc. Forty young people will explore their identity in the artistic form of dance and lyrics working towards a performance at Booin Gari - this will commence in early March 2012.

The Sounds Like Me project is funded by Festivals Australia and the Sunshine Coast Council. Contact United Synergies : Booin Gari Festival, Tewantin on Phone: 07 5442 4277 or Fax: 07 5442 4846.

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