________________________________________________________
Ever Present Exhibition
9^th December- 18^th April 2022

https://www.weareeverpresent.com/

Ever Present Family Day
Sat 26 Feb

Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia surveys historical and contemporary works by over 80 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across Australia. Drawn from the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and Wesfarmers Arts, the powerful works in this touring exhibition reveal the contemporary views and lived experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, bridging time and place, and connecting through the perspectives of identity, resilience and cultural legacy.

On Sat 26 Feb everyone’s invited to The Art Gallery of Western Australia for a celebration of arts, culture and community. Enjoy all-ages workshops, talks, food, dance, and music as AGWA welcomes community to share stories, yarn, listen and connect with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture.

https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/ever-present-family-day/

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PANAWATHI GIRL by David Milroy

8 – 13 Feb at His Majesty’s Theatre

Presented by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company

Saddle up for the next big Black musical. Set in a small town in the northwest of Western Australia in the 1960s, Panawathi Girl overflows with wild joy as hippies and cowboys, politicians and protesters fuel an all-singing, all-dancing night of entertainment.

Set amidst a time of great political change, this bold new production from Yirra Yaakin will have you questioning if much has changed at all, even as it has you tapping your toes and yearning for more.

https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/panawathi-girl/

_____________________________________________________________________

CITY OF GOLD BY MEYNE WYATT

4 – 26 Mar at Heath Ledger Theatre

Presented by Black Swan State Theatre Company of WA and Sydney Theatre Company

Breythe is never just an actor. Always an Indigenous actor. Always in the black show, the black play. Put him in that Australia Day lamb ad. Get that ‘authenticity’. That’s what the people want. Give them what they want. Get that big payday. Even if it draws criticism from your community.

But a messenger bird comes for him. His father is dead. Head home. Back to Kal to grieve. Back to his family shattered by pain and violence that won’t be laid to rest.

City of Gold is an unflinching force of drama that urgently questions injustice and racism in Australia today, and asks: have things changed?


https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/city-of-gold/

________________________________________________________________________

Wirun (Film)

14-20 Feb

Noongar high school student Erin wants to perform like the others in her drama class, but Shakespeare’s old language won’t come out. Determined to prove herself she practices to breaking point, using her cultural strength and specifically her language to finally find some form of meaning.

This is a First Nation coming of age story for those finding their voice in a colonial world.

https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/wirun/

___________________________________________________________________________

BARKAA (Music Concert)
Fri 25 Feb

Celebrated by GQ as ‘the new matriarch of Australian rap’ BARKAA is a hip-hop star that has wowed audiences around the country and is set to take the rest of the world by storm.

BARKAA is a Malyangapa, Barkindji woman from Western New South Wales who uses music to express herself and to highlight issues impacting First Nations people. Her raps have become a rallying cry for those fighting injustice and her incendiary song about police violence, ‘Our Lives Matter’, has become the unofficial soundtrack of the Black Lives Matter movement in Australia. A firebrand MC with unstoppable flow she has just released her politically potent debut EP Blak Matriarchy, dedicated to First Nations women.

You won’t want to miss her energetic live show at B Shed.

https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/barkaa/

_____________________________________________________________________________

Ngangk Waangening, Mothers’ Stories (Women’s Story telling)
Sat 26 Feb

‘It is said that women in labour leave their bodies and travel to the stars to collect the souls of their babies and return to this world together.’ (Anonymous, featured in Valerie Ah Chee’s story behind the painting Kabarli Katijin.) 

This is a rare and powerful story session with Ngangk Waangening editors Aunty Doreen Nelson and Rhonda Marriott AM, alongside other Elder and Senior Noongar and Yamatji women whose accounts of becoming mothers have been shared in this unique legacy collection. Incorporating recollections of trauma, resilience and culture, the women share memories of their grandmothers’ traditional skills and their own birthing experiences. 

‘If there truly is a will to close the gap, we need others to acknowledge that we are the oldest continuous living culture, we are still here, we practise our culture and there is much that others can learn from us if they choose to listen.’

https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/ngangk-waangening-mothers-stories/

______________________________________________________________________________

Gina Williams & Guy house (Music Concert)
KALYAKOORL, NGALAK, WARANGKA
Sat 26 Feb

Presented in association with Fremantle Arts Centre

‘Over many years, Noongar language has been reduced to a whisper, there are currently less than 400 fluent speakers.

Join Noongar singer-songwriter Gina Williams and her long-time collaborator Guy Ghouse for a celebration of song and culture, with storytelling and language at its heart.

Hear the stories behind the music and the connections made resonant through music in a stunning and unique anthology of songs from their first two albums – Kalyakoorl (Forever) and Bindi Bindi (The Butterfly). Theirs is music informed by the four principles of Koort (Heart), Moort (Family and Community), Boodja (Land) and Koorlangka (Children and Legacy).

https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/gina-williams-guy-ghouse/

______________________________________________________________________________

Legacy Stories of Love and Resistance
Sat 26 Feb

Presented in association with Fremantle Arts Centre

Join Dr Cindy Solonec (author of Debesa: The Story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez) and Dr Elfie Shiosaki (author of Homecoming) for a not-to-be-missed session exploring two very different and exquisite works of love, family, culture and resistance.

Moderated by Sisonke Msimang, Solonec and Shiosaki discuss the hidden legacies revealed within colonial archives and the intergenerational impact of the Aborigines Act 1905.

https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/legacy-stories-of-love-and-resistance/

______________________________________________________________________________

Noongar Wonderland (Light and Sound Installation)
3-5 Mar

A Perth Festival Commission, Conceived by Boomerang & Spear in partnership with Perth Festival

Lights. Country. Action!

This land still vibrates with story and song. For centuries, Perry Lakes was a million-star hotel for locals and travellers to gather, share and celebrate. It is ready to host us again – for a special Festival closing weekend created by a team of Noongar artists and designed for everyone to join in.

Noongar Wonderland is a multisensory experience guided by stories of Country. Weave your way through an immersive light and sound installation between the two lakes. Sit with artists and handcraft something both age-old and new. Feel the pulse of song and movement as the energy of the sea and groundwater overflow into a technicolour dance party. This is Noongar-futurism for the old, the young, for everyone!

https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/noongar-wonderland/

___________________________________________________________________________

Birak Concert
26 Jan

The City of Perth acknowledges the Whadjuk Nyoongar people as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters where Perth city is situated today, and pay our respect to Elders past and present.

Celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island cultures; the annual Birak Concert boasts a stellar lineup of Aboriginal entertainment.

Grab a feed from the food trucks on-site and settle in to enjoy the show. There will be amusement rides and workshops for the kids, a selection of community stalls to meander through, and an Elders Tent.

The Birak Concert will have an accessible viewing area for people with disabilities at Supreme Court Gardens which will feature matting on the grass. Bookings are essential as spaces are limited.

https://fringeworld.com.au/whats_on/birak-concert-fw2022

_________________________________________________________________________

Hand in Hand – Kidogo Irish Aboriginal Festival
Mar 17

Hand in Hand, Kidogo Irish Aboriginal Festival is a celebration of the love stories and friendships shared between Irish people and Aboriginal people in Western Australia.

In March 2021, this unique and relatively unknown connection was embraced for the first time in a program that included live music connecting Irish and Western Australian performers, poetry, book launches and readings, exhibitions, dance, friendly AFL and GAA football, an Irish soda-bread versus damper cook-off as well as A 10 metre-high mega projection wall that featured virtual performances by internationally renowned Irish musicians.

After the highly successful inaugural Hand in Hand Festival 2021, Kidogo Arthouse is proud to announce, “Hand in Hand Festival 2022” from 17 – 20 March 2022.

___________________________________________________________________________

Nyumbi (Dance and Song)
Multiple Dates

About this event

Nyumbi means celebration dance in Nyoongar language. Nyoongar dancers perform traditional song and dance and share rich stories of culture and history.

Continue your journey into the Museum exhibition Ngalang Koort, Boodja Wirn – Our Heart, Country, Spirit, or join a guided tour through the Museum’s galleries to experience Boola Bardip – ‘many stories’ from Aboriginal communities from around Western Australia.

Proudly supported by Tourism WA and the City of Perth.

Sat Jan 22
Sat Jan 29
Sat Feb 5
Sat Fab 12

https://fringeworld.com.au/whats_on/nyumbi-fw2022

__________________________________________________________________________

Always Woods Always Will Be

WA comedic heavyweight Fabian Woods presents a comedy show 40,000 years in the making with a brand new standup hour from a favorite across WA comedy.

Get your mob ready for his timeless observations on family, life, heritage on this one-of-a-kind comedy walkabout.

Since taking out top place in one of Australia’s biggest comedy competitions “Deadly Funny” Fabian has garnered huge amounts of respect from audiences and industry alike for his hilarious stories, caustic one-liners, and priceless personality.

He’ll turn the crowd into Kookaburras and having you sliding out of your chair like a rainbow serpent so come see the only hidden gem in WA that Gina, Clive, and Twiggy won’t ever get their hands on.

His land, his jokes, his stage, your laughs.

Always Woods and Always Will Be.

https://fringeworld.com.au/whats_on/always-woods-always-will-be-fw2022

___________________________________________________________________________

Dane Simpson: Didgeridoozy

About this event
The standup comedy show that really blows! Digeridoozy is a comedic ode to one of the world’s oldest wind instruments. Fun facts, stories, music + big belly laughs. Discover the what/why/how of the didge and have one hell of a lot of fun along the way.

★★★★★ “Side-splitting down-to-earth humour” – Glamadelaide, 2021

★★★★ “Simpson is hilarious”- The Advertiser, 2021

Arguably Wagga Wagga’s finest export, Dane has appeared on the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, the Opening Night Allstars Supershow, Have You Been Paying Attention?, The Hundred with Andy Lee, Wil Anderson’s Question Everything, and the rom-com feature film The Merger. With a string of sold-out shows at FRINGE WORLD 2019 & 2020 as part of the hugely popular Aborigi-LOL, you’re gonna love Dane’s new show. Book NOW!

Presented by:
Aborigi-LOL has been presenting standup comedy shows featuring Aboriginal artists since 2016. With Gamilaraay comedian Dane Simpson as mainstay, Aborigi-LOL shows have featured at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe, Sydney Comedy Festival, Darwin Fringe, and as part of the 2018 Commonwealth Games arts program.

____________________________________________________________________________

Large array of diverse events at Walyalup aboriginal Cultural Centre from Art classes, to language classes to Bush tucker events.

Check them all out here:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/walyalup-aboriginal-cultural-centre-17495983541

_________________________________________________________________

Subtleties of the City

Join us as we travel between the City of Perth and Fremantle learning about the culture and country of the Whadjuk people of the Bibbulmum Nation.  This is a beautiful opportunity to learn about this place we call Perth, to understand what was here before the tall ships came and to connect with what is still here today.

We will meet at Wireless Hill in Ardross, travel by bus and visit various local sites.  You’ll hear stories, language, learn about Aboriginal spirituality and transform your relationships to people and place.

Morning tea and lunch will be provided, catered for by the wonderful Dale Tilbrook at Maalinup Aboriginal Gallery.  Please bring your own water bottle, hat and  dress/prepare for the weather.

We travel on a 25 Seater Coaster Bus.  Please contact us via email at jaime@rraft.com.au if you have accessibility concerns or questions.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/indigenous-tours-and-rraft-educators-13784713237

Subtleties of the City: Bunuru – A Journey on Whadjuk Boodja
Tue., 8 March 2022
9:00 am – 4:30 pm AWST

Subtleties of the City: Djeran – A Journey on Whadjuk Boodja
Tue., 17 May 2022
9:00 am – 4:30 pm AWST

Subtleties of the City: Makuru – A Journey on Whadjuk Boodja
Thu., 2 June 2022
9:00 am – 4:30 pm AWST