Page 86 - Metro

and there is little time to translate before they go to air. While LWV H[SDQVLRQ DQG LWV UHYHUEHUDWLRQp 6HQpV GRFXPHQWDWLRQ RI WKH
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everything does fall into place and the performance receives FKRLU LV D OLVWHQLQJ LQ D UHVRQDQFH DQ RSHQLQJ XS
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and Hohnen played in the singer’s career, particularly in terms RI *HUPDQ\ DQG RQH RI WKH ZRPHQ -DQLFH FRPPHQWV WKDW WKH\
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international touring schedule. The documentary also focuses point not only to Australia’s history of genocide, erasure and sys
RQ WKH FXOWXUDO GLIIHUHQFHV DQG PLVFRPPXQLFDWLRQV WKDW RFFXU temic abuse, but also to ongoing discrimination, racial inequality,
when translating or translocating these songs and stories for LQFDUFHUDWLRQ UDWHV DQG RXU IDLOXUH WR oFORVH WKH JDSp /LVWHQLQJ WR
WKH ZRUOG VWDJH these women sing and tell their stories is to hear the ‘contradic
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ZKLFK UHZRUNHG *HUPDQ EDURTXH K\PQV DUH WH[WXUHG E\ WKH ent cultures and traditions that are never quite made into one. The
languages of the surrounding communities. In the same way that words and songs of the choir invite us to hear these experiences,
6WLQJpV O\ULFV DUH UHVFULSWHG LQWR DQG WUDQVIRUPHG E\ WKH *XPDWM this laughter, this pain, and to allow them to resonate with us.
language used by Yunupingu, these hymns are shaped into 7KH K\PQV t DQG E\ H[WHQVLRQ 6HQpV ĺOP t HQDEOH D SURFHVV RI
songlines by the members of the Central Australian Aboriginal remembering and reclaiming. They speak to diverse, layered histo
:RPHQpV &KRLU 6HQpV ĺOP TXLWH OLWHUDOO\ FHUDR UNHBD to these ries that extend into the present.
hymns and stories. If songs allow these women to preserve and %HIRUH , ĺQLVK XS P\ LQWHUYLHZ ZLWK 6HQ VKH UHPLQGV PH WKDW WKLV
pass on their knowledge, culture and language, then 3GD 2NMF contradiction is ‘not resolved for you with a big bow at the end, be
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DEOH H[WHQVLRQ RI WKLV DLP 7KH ĺOPV E\ 6HQ DQG :LOOLDPV FDSWXUH should never be ‘resolved’, but should – like the voices of the choir
the multiplicity and complexity of these various histories and tradi – continue to change, rise and fall, and reverberate outwards.
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Hearing the women singing these hymns in Arrernte and https://clickv.ie/w/metro/yunupingu
Pitjantjatjara is an act of connection and a gesture towards
understanding. The ethereal majesty of the hymns is anchored %DKHBHSX %NQC HR @ /G# B@MCHC@SD HM RBQDDM @MC BTKSTQ@K RSTCHDR @S SGD
throughout the documentary by interviews with the women, who 4MHUDQRHSX NE ,DKANTQMD 'DQ QDRD@QBG DWOKNQDR CHRQTOSHNMR SN BHM-
speak about their experiences on the missions and the role of the ematic form in relation to sound, vision, movement and time. She
choir in preserving their cultures. Most of the interviews take place HR @ LDLADQ NE SGD ,DKANTQMD "HMĠL@SGğPTD @MC @ RDRRHNM@K STSNQ
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of Hermannsburg in 1877 and, while the land was not returned to
Aboriginal people until 1982, the languages of the area were pre Endnotes
served during this time. This was, in part, owing to the missionar 1 0DUJDUHW 6RPHUYLOOH 7RQ\ 3HUNLQV Singing the Coast $ERULJLQDO
ies’ efforts to communicate with the local people and willingness 6WXGLHV 3UHVV &DQEHUUD S
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to learn their languages. Within only three years of arriving, they 2 7UHYRU 0DUVKDOOVHD o'U * <XQXSLQJX $Q ([TXLVLWH 6LQJHU :KR
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munities, she emphasises the centrality of language and music in 3 7RP &OLIW o0,)) :LOO 3URFHHG ZLWK &ORVLQJ 1LJKW 6FUHHQLQJ RI 'U *
opening up a dialogue between two very different cultures: ‘If you <XQXSLQJX 'RFXPHQWDU\p Concrete Playground $XJXVW
codify language, you preserve language. You preserve language, KWWSV FRQFUHWHSOD\JURXQG FRP PHOERXUQH DUWV HQWHUWDLQPHQW
you inadvertently preserve culture.’ If the missionaries inadvertent PLII ZLOO SURFHHG ZLWK GU J \XQXSLQJX GRFXPHQWDU\ >, accessed
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legacy by listening to these women, hearing their songs and shar 5HOHDVH DW WKH $5,$ $ZDUGV DQG UHFHLYHG WKUHH 'HDGO\ DZDUGV WKH
ing these performances and stories. WKLUG QDPLQJ <XQXSLQJX DV $UWLVW RI WKH <HDU VHH .DWK\ 0F&DEH
To ‘give voice’ to something is to provide it with a platform, o6LQJHU 'U * <XQXSLQJX 'LHV $JHG p News.com.au -XO\
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histories into the present: the women’s voices occupy space 6HH o$ERXWp 1DLQD 6HQ RIŷFLDO ZHEVLWH KWWS QDLQDVHQ FRP DX
and time, echoing and resonating in the theatre spaces. There about/! DFFHVVHG 2FWREHU
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of the women’s vocals – the way the sound spreads out. French 'HSDUWPHQW RI WKH (QYLURQPHQW DQG +HULWDJH )HEUXDU\
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