AWAYE! - Full program podcast: Recent Episodes
ABC Radio
AWAYE! presents a diverse and vibrant Aboriginal arts and culture from across Australia and the best from Indigenous radio broadcasters around the world.
The Journey Down.is a performance centred around a percussive sculpture of a rusty ute that’s travelling from Kununurra to Perth.Chris Griffith and Tos Mahoney explain how they've helped bring Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool to life.Then, all-girl saltwater rock band The Ripple Effect discuss their new album.Plus, for Word Up Trinity Clarke shares some of the eastern dialect of Kuku Yalanji.
Stiff Gins Nardi Simpson and Kaleena Briggs discuss how they've grown creatively and personally since meeting at Eora TAFE in Redfern.Poet Susie Anderson talks about how her work spans rural and urban settings yet always brings things back to Country. And for Word Up head to Kuku Yalanji Country with Trinity Clarke.
Ever Present: First Peoples’ Art of Australia is a blockbuster exhibition currently on show at Auckland Art Gallery and
Curator Tina Baum , glasswork artist Yhonnie Scarce, and photographic artist Damien Shenm share how it feels to be ambassador’s of Aboriginal art on a global stage .
And for Word Up this week, David Doyle shares the Barkindji name for quandong.
National Science Week is here, and we meet gyak — a beautiful but endangered frog from Wulgalu Country in New South Wales’s Snowy Mountains also known as the northern corroboree frog. Tia Gostelow celebrates the release of her third album Head Noise, and for Word Up, David Doyle heads back to Barkindji Country to share the word for ‘many waters’.
NATSIAA major prize winner Keith Wikmunea discusses his remarkable sculpture.
Emerging playwright Hannah Belanszky and veteran actor-turned-director Aunty Roxanne McDonald discuss the premiere of don’t ask what the bird look like
And, for Word Up this week David Doyle shares some more Barkindji language.
William Barton shares how he’s seen Australia’s classical music scene shift. Rhoda Roberts and Kirk Page discuss Bundjalung Nghari - Indigenise. Lisa Sorbie-Martin talks about being part of BLEACH* festival on the Gold Coast. And for Word Up, David Doyle as he shares some language from Barkindji country.
Five members of proppaNOW discuss how the collective has spent the past 20 years exploring the politics of Aboriginal art and culture, and what they have planned for the future.
Dancer and choreographer Thomas ES Kelly discusses his upcoming solo work Kuramanunya.
And, Kylie Bracknell shares the Noongar term for older brother in Word Up.
With the release of new documentary The Dark Emu Story, Bruce Pascoe reflects on the conversations it has sparked and where he’d like to see them go.
Two ghost net weavers featured at Cairns Indigenous Art Fair discuss their artwork.
Naretha Williams talks her new album Into Dusk We Fall.
And for Word Up Kylie Bracknell shares a Noongar word for a person of renown.
11 year old Noongar Wongi rapper Inkabee shares what he loves about his music.
Phil Breslin has been crisscrossing the country to learn about traditional weapons for ABC TV's First Weapons.
Writer, historian, and former primary school teacher Shauna Bostock discusses her new book Reaching Through Time.
And for Word Up, Kylie Bracknell reflects on the Noongar word for watching together.
Surfer, artist and Dharug man Billy Bain travels the north coast of New South Wales for ABC TV's Changing Tides.
Bundjalung composer Grayson Rotumah discusses his collaboration with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Plus for Word Up Kylie Bracknell dives into the nuances of Noongar language with a compound word that blends singing and dancing.
East Arrente man William Tilmouth reflects on what Eldership means to him as a nominee of the National NAIDOC Awards Male Elder of the Year.
Yawuru fabric artist Maxine Charlie prepares to attend the National Indigenous Art Fair for the first time.
And, for Word Up Kylie Bracknell celebrates NAIDOC Week with a very special Noognar word — ‘ancestor’.
When we respect and look after Country we are practising good culture.
And just as importantly, when we care for Country she cares for us.
Today, Barkindji artists Zena Cumpston and David Doyle discuss the ways in which Country influences their work.
Plus, filmmaker Rachel Perkins reflects on the impact Freda Glynn has had on her.
And, for Word Up artist James Tylor shares the Kaurna word for 'deadly'.
Emerging writers Jacob Gallagher and Dakota Feirer have each been named the State Library of Queensland's black&write fellows in 2023 for their unpublished manuscripts.
They share what this fellowship means to them and the inspiration behind their writing.
Anita Heiss reflects on this year's NAIDOC theme "For Our Elders" and the legacy of literary powerhouse Aunty Ruby Langford Gibini.
Plus for Word Up, Kaurna artist James Tylor delves deeper into language to explain how the Kaurna word for platypus was reconstructed.
Frances Rings discusses the story of Yuldea, her first full length choreographic work since taking on the artistic director role at Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Dancer and choreographer Sani Townson reflects on two Elders who have influenced his creative path.
Gill Moody's documentary Kindred premieres at Sydney Film Festival.
And for Word Up, Kaurna artist James Tylor shares a word that describes the action of reflecting on something you’ve learnt.
Ahead of his upcoming show at Melbourne's Rising Festival, Uncle Kutcha Edwards explains how he uses his music to create ripples of change.Fred Leone reflects on this year’s NAIDOC Week theme “For Our Elders” and one of the people who has inspired him in his language revitalisation work.Fred Gesha discusses the St Kilda Film Festival in it's biggest and most diverse year yet.Plus, for Word Up James Tylor shares a Kaurna word that means to prepare your mind for a challenge.
We Come With This Place is as much a tribute to Debra Dank’s family and Country as it is a gorgeous memoir.And this week it swept the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, winning an unprecedented four out of fourteen prizes.Deb celebrate the win and explains what it means to her.Aboriginal rock n’ reggae band No Fixed Address discuss their trailblazing journey and what fans can learn from the band's new memoir.Plus for Word Up, Mikayla Shaw Friday shares a little more Ngarinyman language.
Yankunytjatjara poet Ali Cobby Eckermann discusses her new verse novel she is the earth and shares why trees make the best editors and how she knows when a work is ready to publish.Playwright and director Wesley Enoch and performer Naarah prepare for the national tour of the 1999 musical The Sunshine Club.Plus Mikayla Shaw-Friday shares a little more Ngariman language for Word Up that describe the time of day between sunset and darkest night-time.
Rapper Birdz explains how Girra, his new project with songman Fred Leone, came together and why they wanted to premier it in front of audiences.Multi-disciplinary artist James Tyler reflects on his new exhibition Turrangka... in the shadows.Plus for Word Up Mikayla Shaw-Friday shares some afternoon sunshine.
Frances Peters-Little discusses the long journey to writing and publishing a biography about her father, Uncle Jimmy Little.Keith Munro shares what it means to be appointed the inaugural Director of First Nations Art and Cultures at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.Singer and radio producer Andrew Gurruwiwi explains the meaning behind his song 'Gatjumak' ahead of his shows at Garrmalang Festival in Darwin, and Vivid Sydney.Plus for Word Up, head to the Northern Territory to meet this month’s language specialist, Mikayla Friday-Shaw.
Actor Luke Carroll discusses returning to Nathan Maynard’s play At What Cost, a show that asks one deceptively simple question: who gets to call themselves Aboriginal?Sharyn Egan, Teho Ropeyarn, and Christopher Bassi are some of the artists exhibiting in The National 4 and share their stories.Plus for Word Up, language worker Ebony Joachim shares the name of the totem for Yorta Yorta people.
Theatre director Ian Michael and actress Karla Hart discuss The Bleeding Tree, a gripping revenge tale set in outback Australia.Stan Grant and Jack Jacobs talk about their podcast that takes its name from a time-honoured Wiradjuri practice.And, Ebony Joachim shares the Yorta Yorta names for two major rivers on her Country.
Filipino/Wiradjuri artist Mo’Ju reflects on their new album ORO PLATA MATA, and explains how the last few years of change have impacted their creativity.Actor and traditional dancer Emmanuel James Brown prepares to take part in a triple bill with Marrugeku.Plus, for Word Up head back to Yorta Yorta country with Ebony Joachim.
Celebrated writer Alexis Wright discuss her new novel Praiseworthy and how fiction deepens understandings.Paul Ah Chee finds the light at the Parrtjima Festival in Mparntwe Alice Springs.And for Word Up, Ebony Joachim shares a Yorta Yorta suffix that explains relationality.
The deadly funny Janty Blair shares what she’s learnt after marking her first year of performing stand up comedy.Duane Byrnes discusses the mental, physical and cultural elements of the reality survivalist show, Alone Australia.Plus for Word Up, head to Shepparton in northern Victoria to meet our newest language specialist, Ebony Joachim.
Dan Sultan is more considered that he's ever been when it comes to his work, and controlling the narrative.To celebrate the release of his newest single, he reflects on how his approach to music has changed over the years.Plus, Koori Mail cartoonist Danny Eastwood’ discusses his solo exhibition at the Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre.
Thea Anamara Perkins has been named the recipient of the 2023 La Prairie Art Award.Choreographer and dancer Janine Oxenham discusses The Stars Descend an imaginative dance work from the south-west Western Australia.Tony Briggs talks through the program of the third biannual Birrarangga Film Festival.Plus for Word Up, Yugambeh linguist Shaun Davies is inspired by another language expert.
More than 250 years after they were stolen by Cook and the crew of the HMS Endeavour, four Kamay spears are set to be repatriated.Noeleen Timbery, chairperson of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council shares how she felt when she got the news.Plus, Walmatjarri gospel-blues musician Olive Knight discusses how she embeds her songs with Country, community and spirituality.And for Word Up, Shaun Davies dives deep into the Yugambeh word for 'mother'.
Composer and conductor Aaron Wyatt shares how his many skills – from playing the viola to developing an app -- fold into and compliment each other.Wiradjuri poet and multidisciplinary artist Jazz Money discusses the song she co-wrote for a choral extravaganza at Sydney WorldPride.And Sharon Mason holds a Yuin women’s cultural camp on the far south coast of New South Wales.Plus for Word Up, Yumgambeh linguist Shaun Davies shares a word that was created by his old people in the early days of colonial contact.
As Sydney prepares to celebrate WorldPride and Mardi Gras, meet some of the fabulous First Nations people lighting up the city from Sue Pinkham health advocate and Sydney WorldPride board member, to the dynamic art duo The Huxleys, to performance artist Roymata Holmes,Plus, Dalara Williams is named the 2022 Balnaves Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellow.And for Word Up poet and podcaster Lorna Munro explains a Wiradjuri term widely spoken in Aboriginal English.
Kamilaroi/Bigambul man Archie Moore is set to be the second Aboriginal artist to singularly present at the Venice Biennale — sometimes thought of as the Olympics of the art world.He discusses how he explores themes of racism, national identity and his own family history through art.Plus soprano, composer and artistic director of the Short Black Opera company, Deborah Cheetham shares what 'pride' means to her.And for Word Up Lorna Munro explains how a single word is a greeting, asks a question and lays down a philosophical challenge.
'Much expectation and much responsibility': Labor's national cultural policy puts First Nations arts first.
For 30 years Awaye! has showcased the depth, diversity and vitality of Indigenous culture through the arts.This week, some of the people who've helped shape the program reflect on Awaye!'s legacy.Plus, artist Peter Waples-Crowe considers the notion of “pride” beyond just a matter of sexual identity.And, Lorna Munro shares the Gomeroi word that inspired her son's name.
Playwright, poet and author Julie Janson discusses her crime fiction debut, Madukka The River Serpent.Ahead of Bangarra Dance Theatre's Dance Clan premier, choreographer Sani Townson shares what it's it's been like to work with a company of dancers he used to teach.Plus, rapper DOBBY shares his new song That's Not Me.
Poet Lionel Fogarty, blues musician Marlene Cummins and playwright Richard Franklin are three people who've driven and lead change in our communities across a range of arts practices.They discuss how their unique skills to go beyond good intentions and fight for structural change.
With Elaine Crombie set to bring Janet's Vagrant Love to Sydney Festival, re-discover how the one woman show was developed for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2019.Then, writer Tony Birch shares how growing up in Fitzroy influenced his ideas of masculinity, conflict resolution and his writing.And, Artist Naomi Hobson discusses her vibrant photographic series Adolescent Wonderland.
Unlimited Futures is an anthology of speculative, visionary fiction from 21 emerging and established First Nations writers and Black writers, reflecting visionary pasts, hopeful futures and the invisible ties between First Nations people and Black people.Co-editor Ellen van Neervan, along with writers Merryana Salem and Lisa Fuller discuss the anthology and (re)writing their worlds.
AWAYE! brings you diverse and vibrant Aboriginal arts and culture from across Australia.
On 10 December, 1992, then-prime minister Paul Keating delivered the infamous Redfern Speech to a skeptical it not hostile audience in the inner-Sydney suburb hailed "the Black capital".Thirty years later, what was the impact of the Redfern Speech?Then for Word Up, Ray Ingrey shares some of his language — Dharawal.
Australian Dance Theatre's Daniel Riley weaves together dance, music and text to bring to life the remarkable story of his great-great uncle, and Deline Briscoe discusses Blaktivism.
Choreographer Joel Bray explains how working in close collaboration with Wiradjuri Elders, including his own father, helped bring Wiradjuri country to Naarm.For Word Up Stephanie Skinner shares the traditional name of the land where Geelong now sits on Wadawurrung Country.Plus, musician Clint Bracknell and linguist Myf Turpin continue to track the Song With No Boss.
Three of the Elders discuss their contributions to Dr Anita Heiss' new anthology Growing Up Wiradjuri.And in the third episode of Song With No Boss, musician Clint Bracknell and linguist Myf Turpin continue to track the much-loved corroboree song that travelled thousands of kilometres, largely intact, for at least 160 years.
Kodie Bedford is a Jaru screenwriter who grew up in Geraldton, Western Australia.
She discusses how the landscape of Australian television has changed since she started a little over a decade ago.
Song With No Boss returns for the second of five episodes about a much-loved corroboree song that travelled thousands of kilometres, largely intact, for at least 160 years.
In the first instalment of Song With No Boss Noongar musician and language revivalist Clint Bracknell, and linguist Myf Turpin begin unravelling a musical mystery.
Franchesca Cubillo explains why Australia Council brought together Elders, emerging leaders, artists, arts workers, performers and thought leaders for Purrumpa.
And for Word Up Elaine Magias shares some Kaurna language.
Mykaela Saunders wins the David Unaipon award in 2022 and Rona Glynn-McDonald speaks about and Common Ground, and their new series of Bedtime Stories
Mykaela Saunders wins the David Unaipon award in 2022 and Rona Glynn-McDonald speaks about and Common Ground, and their new series of Bedtime Stories
Considered one of Australia’s foremost Indigenous female blues writers and performers, Marlene Cummins talks the blues from an Aboriginal woman’s perspective.
And, Vince Copley AM's daughter Kara McEwan discusses her father's posthumously published autobiography.
Considered one of Australia’s foremost Indigenous female blues writers and performers, Marlene Cummins talks the blues from an Aboriginal woman’s perspective.
And, Vince Copley AM's daughter Kara McEwan discusses her father's posthumously published autobiography.
Dr Alethea Beetson, Fred Leone and Vincent Namatjira discuss how being awarded Sidney Myer Creative Fellowships will impact their lives and develop their art practices.
Plus, John Harding discusses adapting his promenade play The Dirty Mile for the radio.
Dr Alethea Beetson, Fred Leone and Vincent Namatjira discuss how being awarded Sidney Myer Creative Fellowships will impact their lives and develop their art practices.
Plus, John Harding discusses adapting his promenade play The Dirty Mile for the radio.
Ronald Briggs talks about the 50th anniversary of the Koori Knockout, and Jem Cassar-Daley introduces her debut EP I Don't Know Who to Call.
Ronald Briggs talks about the 50th anniversary of the Koori Knockout, and Jem Cassar-Daley introduces her debut EP I Don't Know Who to Call.
Rachel Perkins discusses her new docuseries The Australian Wars, and Na Djinang Circus founder Harley Mann explains how he fell into the artform and found community.
Rachel Perkins discusses her new docuseries The Australian Wars, and Na Djinang Circus founder Harley Mann explains how he fell into the artform and found community.
As the world mourns a queen, Blakfullas around the country are mourning a giant of theatre. Rachael Maza discusses the legacy of the late Uncle Jack Charles, and an interview with Uncle from the archives.
As the world mourns a queen, Blakfullas around the country are mourning a giant of theatre. Rachael Maza discusses the legacy of the late Uncle Jack Charles, and an interview with Uncle from the archives.
Koori Mail's general manager Naomi Moran provides an update on the flood recovery in NSW's Northern Rivers region, and Karul Project's co-founder Thomas E. Kelly discusses a show that's exploring silence (and what it takes to break it).
Koori Mail's general manager Naomi Moran provides an update on the flood recovery in NSW's Northern Rivers region, and Karul Project's co-founder Thomas E. Kelly discusses a show that's exploring silence (and what it takes to break it).
Wiradjuri writer Anita Heiss, is adding another feather to her cap, with the stage adaptation of her 2014 novel Tiddas.
Poet Jazz Money talks guest curating this year's Melbourne Writers Festival.
Stephen Page and his son Hunter Page-Lochard discuss, Waru — Bangarra Dance Theatre's new show, aimed at children.
And for Word Up, Aunty Christine Stuart shares some Gubbi Gubbi language, including the word for 'fire'.
Stolen Generation survivor Frank Byrne's memoir Living in Hope pieces together fragments of the past, and theatre maker Alethea Beetson takes a break between rehearsals to discuss how a residency at a museum inspired her new show Queen City.
The NATSIAA award winners talk about their art and lives, and a poignant interview with Uncle Archie Roach from Awaye's archives.
Two of this year's NATSIAA finalists Aunty Gail Mabo and Juanella MacKenzie discuss their work, and the hilarious Dane Simpson gets set to take Didgeridoozy to Darwin Festival.
Dr Lois Peeler shares how her family has influenced her work and what it means to have been named NAIDOC Female Elder of the Year, plus
Debra Dank explains why her latest book We Come with This Place has a non-linear structure.
Uncle Jack Charles talk about what it means to be named Male Elder of the Year at the NAIDOC Awards, and playwright and director Wesley Enoch brings Sunshine Club back to the stage.
It’s NAIDOC Week — a time to celebrate and honour all the ways that mob get up, stand up, and show up.
Composer and performer William Barton discusses his new compositional work for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Of The Earth. Then, musician and social historian Jessie Llyod brings you her new album Four Winds.
Tony Birch shares how growing up in Fitzroy influenced his writing, and artist Naomi Hobson discusses her vibrant photographic series Adolescent Wonderland.
Artist Daniel Boyd walks us through his exhibition Treasure Island, and Yuwaalaraay writer and musician Nardi Simpson talks us through Another Australia.
Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Frances Rings explains how Kati Thanda inspired one of her most acclaimed works. And centenarian Uncle Wes Marne shares his debut collection of poetry, Through Old Eyes.
Leah Purcell discusses her newest iteration of The Drover's Wife, and Stephen page is honoured with a Red Ochre Award
Writers Jackie Huggins, Chelsea Watego, Lorna Munro and Evelyn Araluen discuss what "Unmitegatedly Black" success looks like in literary spaces, and the value of collectivism.
Black Wallaby is a creative writing program started by Aunty Barbara Nicholson at the Junee Correctional Centre. Troy Russel and Lily Shearer explain how a single piece of music grew into a musical about star crossed lovers on the run.
Evelyn Araluen wins the 2022 Stella Prize, and we hear about an old fairytale with a Blak twist.
Lara Croydon brings the highlights from QPAC's Clancestry, Ngarrindjeri rapper Eskatology discusses his new single, and Paul Girrawah House brings Ceremony into the gardens of the NGA with his tree scarring practice.
Brittanie Shipway's A Letter For Molly and Richard Franklin's No More Sugar, No More Tea each explore matrilineal stories for the stage.
Unlimited Futures is a new anthology of speculative and visionary fiction from Blak and Black writers and poets.
Today, repatriation and the porous nature of objects, for the first time since they were taken in 1770 three Kamay spears are returning to Sydney.
SJ Norman is an artist comfortable with mess and the trouble of things, and his latest iteration of his ‘Bone Library’ is a perfect example. Plus, a celebration of diverse LGBTIQA+ people is taking place in Blacktown and Western Sydney.
This week, we meet Hetti Perkins, the senior Curator-at-large of Ceremony, the fourth National Indigenous Art Triennial, and Rhoda Roberts, curator of the Parrtjima Festival.
The final update of a project mapping massacres on Australia’s colonial frontier, a tour from Alice Skye, and a trip to Mount Gambier.
A new documentary is telling the story of how remote Aboriginal communities across the top end of Australia are working to eliminate rheumatic heart disease, and Mak Mak Marranunggu musician J-Milla talks music and mentorship.
Koori Mail’s General Manager Naomi Moran takes us to the flood affected Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, plus Meyne Wyatt joins us from Noongar Country where his debut play City of Gold will be re-staged.
The formidable thinker Dr Aileen Moreton-Robinson discusses her seminal work Talkin Up to the White Woman. Plus, Thiinma and Warriyangga man Peter Salmon shares how he's using music to revitalise his languages.
Kaiadilt Elders share how they're holding tight to their homeland despite a lifetime of dispossession and dislocation. Plus, beloved singer-songwriter Kutcher Edwards discusses the stories behind his songs.
Gunai Kurnai writer Veronica Gorrie took home two prizes at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. Plus Nathan Maynard's new play At What Cost? asks the question: who can call themselves Aboriginal.
Saddle up as we hear about the next big Black musical from director Eva Grace Mullaley. Plus, Uncle Archie Roach has hit the road again in 2022.
Victor Steffensen explains why he's sharing his traditional Indigenous fire knowledge in a children’s book, Looking After Country with Fire.
Writer Evelyn Araluen takes down icons and explodes tropes of mythic Australianness in her debut collection Dropbear, Larissa Behrendt discusses her third novel, After Story and Marie Munkara shares some Rembarranga for Word Up
Playwright Andrea James takes on the story of an Australian sporting legend in Sunshine Super Girl. And, how a phone call sent Tirki Onus on a journey of discovery.
We head to Sydney Writers Festival to hear about a collection of First Nations poetry, Guwayu — For All Times.
After three decades Stephen Page has announced he’s stepping down as Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Company, and Warwick Thornton discusses his new show about Aboriginal vampire hunters.
Today, we pay tribute to David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu AM, a legend of Indigenous cinema and a powerful performer.
An authorised biography of the iconic Yolgnu rock band Yothu Yindi has been released, and Sydney Opera House's annual traditional dance competition 'Dancerites' returned for another year, but not as you know it.
Uncle Kev Carmody has been inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame this week. He shares what the honour means to him.
Rapper Kobie Dee discusses his podcast Know Role Models and 91-year-old Kanakiya Myra Ah Chee discusses her memoir Nomad Girl which tracks her life on the gibber plains and beyond.
Deborah Mailman talks Total Control, Emma Donovan discusses the music documentary Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, and Angela Giles shares some Ngarrindjeri for Word Up.
Baker Boy discusses his debut album Gela, Larissa Behrendt explores history and culture through the lens of NRL in her new documentary, and editor Grace Lucas-Pennington shares how blak&write is celebrating its tenth anniversary.
Ellen van Neervan explains why they'll be using their Sidney-Meyer Fellowship grant to slow down. The Art Gallery of NSW and Purple House team up again to get dialysis to Balgo community. SJ Norman discusses their debut Permafrost. And, learn the Yuggera name for the tawny frog-mouth owl.
Ancestress discusses her single One By One and the eight year long process from writing to releasing the song, and we mark five years of Word Up.
We hear from one of the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship winners Ali Murphy-Oates, plus musician Bumpy shares how she's finding power in vulnerability.
Today, Rhianna Patrick tells us how Indigenous X has grown since its inception in 2012 and what role podcasts play in this new phase.
Tarnanthi Festival returns for 2021, Bob Weatherall discusses his album Restless Dream, and award-winning author Marie Munkara shares some Rembarranga for Word Up.
Today, Australian Museum’s Eureka Prize nominee Corey Tutt shares why we need science literacy in our communities.
Two talented storytellers discuss their work. Plus we hear from the New South Wales/Queensland state border amidst COVID lockdowns.
Today, Claire Coleman discusses her new book that blends the personal with the political, looking at the ongoing process of colonialism in Australia.
A new documentary is revealing the hard truths of Australia’s criminal justice system, and we hear how COVID-19 is affecting Wilcannia in western New South Wales.
This month marks the 55th anniversary of the Wave Hill Walkoff — when Vincent Lingiari led more than two hundred Aboriginal stockmen and domestic workers walked off the Wave Hill Cattle Station in the Northern Territory.
Writer, poet and educator Jazz Money discusses the poetics of Indigenous languages, Gamilaroi theatre maker Megan Wilding on her award-winning play GAME. SET. MATCH.
The winners of the country’s longest running art awards for Indigenous artists have been announced.
Dr Larissa Behrendt and debut filmmaker Tiriki Onus are flipping the colonial lens to discover what happens when you view stories through a First Nations’ lens.
Today, we meet Sydney Opera House’s new head of First Nations programming — Beau James — and hear what they hope to bring to this very exciting and challenging role.
Today, from art and architecture, to film and science — Indigenous cultures are not “terra nullius.”
Today, we return to the high country and the headwaters of the biggest rivers in south-eastern Australia for a ceremony that until 2019 hadn’t been performed in generations.
The NAIDOC theme of Heal Country is a challenge as much as a statement. And country is not just our part of the world, it’s the nation itself.
Associate Artistic Director Frances Rings takes us backstage at Bangarra's SandSong, and Australian Museums Unsettled is uncovering truths.
Wiradjuri dancer, choreographer and contemporary dance teacher Daniel Riley is the first First Nations Artistic Director to lead a non-Indigenous dance company in Australia — he shares what's led him to this moment.
Richard Bell has always wielded the paintbrush like a megaphone, to speak truth to power.
Lou Bennett has won the prestigious Red Ochre Award for a lifetime of outstanding achievement.
It’s been 26 years since Deborah Mailman and Wesley Enoch’s play The Seven Stages of Grieving debuted.
In the third episode of ABC Indigenous’ podcast Thin Black Line violence erupts as Brisbane’s frustrated Murri community march on police headquarters.
We bring you the second episode of Thin Black Line, a six-part investigation into one of the most controversial deaths in custody — that of 18-year old Daniel Yock.
This week we look at the war legacy of one family and how bravery and sacrifice didn’t count for a lot once they returned home.
When Dark Mofo put out a sickening call for the blood of First Nations people for an artwork it sparked outrage and condemnation. We talk to the Tasmanian Aboriginal artist who has tried to constructively engage with the festival and its parent institution MONA for the past seven years - and she tells us why she’s walking away. And former Queensland Police officer Ronnie Gorrie on her memoir Black and Blue.
Missile Park is the first major survey exhibition of the practice of Yhonnie Scarce, and actress Shareena Clanton speaks out on her experiences while on the set of Neighbours.
Thirty years ago the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody delivered its findings. ABC Indigenous looks at just one of the more than 440 deaths that have occurred since 1991.
In the French city of Lyon we find a strange ethnographic object - which can only be described as a curiosity of the Western imagination.
It seems we are perpetually in the grip of another pandemic — violence against women — but why isn't anyone listening to Black women?
The artist Daniel Boyd sheds new light on the collection of the University of Sydney, reimagining the sculptures of Ancient Greece through a post-colonial lens.
Writer Evelyn Araluen takes down icons and explodes tropes of mythic Australianness in her debut collection Dropbear.
Archie Roach reads another excerpt from his memoir Tell Me Why which has just won the Indigenous Writing Prize at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.
The outgoing artistic director of the Sydney Festival has set a new standard in terms of Indigenous programming and as he walks out the door Wesley Enoch has a word for the next director. Noongar writer Alf Taylor's new memoir is a blistering and sometimes funny account of a broken childhood at the New Norcia mission.
Australia's first national radio program produced and presented by Indigenous broadcasters changed the game in black media.
Tlingit artist Nicholas Galanin has dug a grave for the statue of James Cook and it begs the question: what do we do with monuments to a one-sided version of history? And a new podcast that uncovers the history of Aboriginal resistance during the frontier wars.
We hear about the AACTA-nominated documentary Maralinga Tjarutja, written and directed by Larissa Behrendt.
The award-winning poet Charmaine Papertalk Green on her latest collection dedicated to her mother.
Featuring some of the most articulate voices in the country. Fire Front is a new anthology that captures the renaissance in First Nations verse.
From the alleyways of Melbourne to her Koori lounge room in suburban Brunswick, Destiny Deacon has created some iconic images without ever uttering a word of artspeak. Today, we visit the exhibition that charts the extraordinary career of one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists.
Playwright Andrea James takes on the story of an Australian sporting legend in Sunshine Super Girl.
Filmmaker Kodie Bedford’s latest turn — playwriting. We find out how blockchain technology could put a brake on fake Indigenous art. And the circus comes to town in the latest exhibition from Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens.
Jub Clerc is a force of nature and now the former actor, theatremaker and one-time opera singer is writing and directing her first feature film. We feature one of the first Aboriginal languages ever to be written down in Word Up - and the fight to save the mothership of the legendary Radio Redfern.
We go on a journey — from a former Aboriginal mission station on the banks of the Murray River to the Forest of Martyrs outside Jerusalem — to learn the story of William Cooper and his 1938 protest against the persecution of the Jews.
As the 50th Anniversary approaches, we revisit the story of the Aboriginal tent embassy — and its contemporary meaning.
Thirty years ago a truly remarkable album launched the career of a softly spoken man who spoke for a generation — Archie Roach.
From music, playwriting and now her book Song of the Crocodile Nardi Simpson seems to move effortlessly between forms of storytelling. And in the lead-up to NAIDOC Week we revisit the rock shelter in west Arnhem Land where in 2017 they uncovering a treasure trove of artefacts dating back 65-thousand years.
We track the incredible story of a song from the American Deep South to a mission on the Murray River and Emma Donovan returns with Melbourne rhythm combo The Putbacks and a 70s funk-tinged soul album.
We feature contemporary songlines in Indigenous music - from electric soul and desert pop to post-colonial death metal.
We contemplate the meaning of rock engravings in the foothills of the Italian Alps in the final part of our series visiting three world heritage sites on three continents. And jazz singer and storyteller Lois Olney returns to her birthplace and her mother's Ngarluma country.
In the second instalment in a three-part documentary series that crosses three continents and three world heritage sites we walk a pilgrimage route through sacred mountains where faiths converge. And how the sound of rivers echoes in three languages - Woiwurrung, Yaygir and Nyikina.
A journey into the near outback and the shores of a dry lake to find the compelling story of human occupation and Aboriginal presence on the continent known as Australia. And we hear some of the languages spoken across the vast Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area.
Today we travel to the Norwegian Arctic to meet with a group of indigenous Sami reindeer herders who are worried their traditional knowledge might not be enough to survive the changing climate. And language worker Karina Lester shares some Yankunytjatjara.
Kev Carmody joins us to talk about the 2020 edition of Cannot Buy My Soul and we hear about a new initiative that deciphers medical terminology in our languages. Also, the podcast that answers some of the most frequently asked questions about sex and relationships.
Is the geeksphere a lonely place for blackfellas? Hell no. We chart the rise of the Aboriginal superhero from the anti-racism crusader in Basically Black to the dreadlocked Avenger, Manifold. Also, Gamilaroi astrophysicist Karlie Noon on making science accessible and a special celestial episode of Word Up.
Described as "blak Australia uncut and unleashed on the page", Guwayu - For All Times is a new poetry anthology with work in some of our first languages. We meet some of the winners of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards and we're off to Balgo in the south-east Kimberley to sit down with a living national treasure and one of Australia's most renowned artists.
After years of lobbying, the Coon cheese brand name will be shelved but not surprisingly there's been a meltdown on social media decrying cancel culture and political correctness. Also, writer and academic Ambelin Kwaymullina talks about her new book and rap artist Dobby tells us why his latest song just had to be written.
Activist and community leader Clarence Walden sits down with award-winning writer Alexis Wright to give his version of some dramatic events in recent Queensland history - from the church days at Doomadgee mission, to the High Court and a bitter dispute over Australia's largest open cut zinc mine.
In the final instalment in our Blak poetry special we hear from some of the most urgent voices in Australian writing. Reni Eddo-Lodge on why she stopped talking to white people about race and Microwave Jenny's Tessa Nuku goes solo.
Tlingit artist Nicholas Galanin has dug a grave for the statue of James Cook and it begs the question: what do we do with monuments to a one-sided version of history? And a new podcast that uncovers the history of Aboriginal resistance during the frontier wars.
Australia's first national radio program produced and presented by Indigenous broadcasters changed the game in black media.
As monuments to slavers and genocidal kings are torn down overseas here in Australia we are again having a national conversation about the dissonance between public history and the lived experience - and collective memory - of Indigenous people.
We follow a survey team along a pathway from the far south coast of New South Wales into the Snowy Mountains untrodden for generations and learn some Mudburra language with singer-songwriter Eleanor Dixon, who hails from the homeland community of Marlinja.
The killing of George Floyd has provoked outrage across the globe but can that righteous anger bring about structural change and heal a broken system? Nyikina woman Sam Cook shares her thoughts from Los Angeles. And we revisit the history-making Mabo decision, 28 years on.
In the second part of our special on the blak poetry renaissance we feature the work of Evelyn Araluen, Joel Davison, Lorna Munro, Kirli Saunders and Elizabeth Walker from the new anthology Fire Front, curated by Alison Whittaker.
50 years ago this month the notorious Kinchela Boys Home closed its gates forever but the former training farm leaves a harrowing legacy. Also, we get The Word from investigative journalist Allan Clarke who reports from the Atlantic coast of south-western France.
For the Maralinga Tjarutja people who were forcibly moved off their lands in the 1950s the British nuclear tests are just one disaster that befell them. Also, in our first international episode of The Word we hear from expat Nyikina woman Sam Cook who lives and works in Los Angeles County.
In the French city of Lyon we find a strange ethnographic object - which can only be described as a curiosity of the Western imagination.
In an excerpt from the audiobook of his memoir Tell Me Why, Archie Roach recounts one of the most vivid and happiest memories of his early life and we get The Word from Katherine where social distancing is having some unintended but positive consequences.
A new anthology captures the spirit and creativity that's firing the renaissance in First Nations poetry right now. Edited by Alison Whittaker, Fire Front features some of the most articulate voices in the country. And we get The Word from Townsville with ABC features reporter Dwayne Wyles.
Molly Hunt was about to move interstate to take up a dream job - then COVID-19 got in the way. And at the outset of her career as an award-winning playwright Nakkiah Lui explains her golden rule when it comes to theatremaking.
Ellen van Neerven shares a deeply personal story about finding your voice - the subtext of their new award-winning poetry collection Throat. And storyteller Jim Everett brings us The Word from Cape Barren Island, a remote community in Bass Strait.
Charmaine Papertalk Green reads from her award-winning poetry collection Nganajungu Yagu and shares what she regards as some of the greatest lines ever written. Also we hear about a new series of coronavirus podcasts in Yolngu Matha and health researcher Joel Liddle brings us The Word from Alice Springs.
As the pandemic threatens vulnerable communities we check the pulse of the Indigenous art sector and in the first instalment of The Word we hear from artist and mayoral candidate Elverina Johnson on the impact of the emergency in her community of Yarrabah.
From Took The Children Away to Weeping in the Forest, his lyrics tell a part of the story but in his extraordinary memoir the singer-songwriter goes where he didn't dare before and in the 150th episode of Word Up ABC broadcaster Maree Yoelu shares more of her language - Batjamalh.
Two years ago we took you behind the 1938 Day of Mourning Protest with the descendants of some of the first generation of political activists — people like the indefatigable Pearl Gibbs, the gumleaf-playing preacher Tom Foster and the Wiradjuri matriarch Louisa Ingram —this week we’ve dived into the archives to share it with you again.
We track the long history of black participation in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, and head to Kwini country for Word Up.
Singer-songwriter, and budding playwright Nardi Simpson has tried her hand at new music composition, and the fraught and funny story of intercultural love in the new play Black Ties.
Steven Oliver hosts NITV's Faboriginal and Eddie Synot dissects the High Court majority ruling which found Indigenous people can not be deported from Australia.
The National Gallery of Australia has taken the lead in the artworld by introducing a new role, and Nakkiah Lui looks back on the ground-breaking, career-launching TV series — Black Comedy.
It was her father's tenacious search for his identity that set Larissa Behrendt on her "disparate" career as a legal professor, writer, radio broadcaster and documentary filmmaker. A new play about the historic all-Aboriginal cricket team that toured England in 1868 - and why have just four seasons when you can have six or seven?
Power corrupts absolutely in the first full-scale adaptation of a Shakespeare play in an Aboriginal language. And best known as one half of the Stiff Gins, Nardi Simpson reckons with the contested national day in her debut play.
When a bereaved Aboriginal family were left stranded on their remote outstation in the Kimberley it had far-reaching consequences.
For the first time in 160 years a healing ceremony is performed at the headwaters of the biggest rivers in south-eastern Australia.
Alison Whittaker is an intellectual powerhouse — just don't call her writing "important".
Melissa Lucashenko writes great Australian novels and her sixth Too Much Lip is no exception.
An activist, orator and community leader, Clarence Walden is also the boss of his own story, which he tells straight to his old mate, the award-winning author Alexis Wright.