Cirrus@Austlit

'Late in 2017, just weeks after successfully negotiating the return of Albert’s copyright to the Namatjira family, helping to set up the Namatjira Trust and bringing Big hART’s eight-year Namatjira Project to a conclusion, producer Sophia Marinos and I found ourselves in tears as we penned an obituary for our dear friend Kumantjai L Namatjira,* who had been so instrumental to the campaign.'  (Introduction)

'Big hART’s latest production Tjaabi provides a unique glimpse into the living Aboriginal culture of the Pilbara, through songs, story and image performed by Ngarluma man Patrick Churnside. Tjaabi springs from a long-term intercultural exchange, between different language groups – young and old, indigenous and non-indigenous, in Roebourne, the heart of the Pilbara, Western Australia.'

'The performance of Tjaabi has been created specifically for the community and will be a unique experience, in situ, once only under the stars, for those who know and love these songs. This showing, written and staged inclusively with Patrick, involves young people from the community dancing with him on stage, elders in translation of songs, on film and surrounding the stage in support. ...' (Source: Yijala Yala website)

'In a landscape where contemporary Australia continues to struggle with questions of how to reconcile its national identity with its Indigenous roots, with contemporary Indigenous Australians, and with how it imagines its future, this film explores the notion of friendship and the role cross cultural friendships have to play in reconciliation. It looks through the prism of the Namatjira family, who live in Western Aranda country in Central Australia, in exploring the notion and reality of friendship. The story of their grandfather, Albert Namatjira – internationally acclaimed watercolour painter and the first Indigenous Australian citizen – is iconographic and nationally significant to the Australian narrative.' (Source: Documentary Australia Foundation)

''Hipbone Sticking Out' spins the globe upside down and sets its teeth rattling to the tune of The Clash, The Stranglers, Britney Spears, sea shanties and traditional songs of the Pilbara in glorious six part harmony. Clothed in hi-viz work wear and set against the backdrop of Murujuga – the world’s largest outdoor rock art gallery - a stellar cast creates a tour de force story beginning in 1602 that places the Pilbara at the centre of world history.

In the town of Roebourne a young man, John Pat, scuffles with police, hits his head on the footpath and is left in a police lockup. He finds himself travelling through time from the beginning, meeting Greco/Roman Gods, tracing the spice routes, the exploration of the Indian Ocean, the paintings of Vermeer, the pop music of 1800’s, the coming of ghost people to Ngarluma country, slavery, pearling, new law, ancient law, and the mining boom of the present. During the performance John Pat’s family hold the truth of this story in their hands as witnesses. Like all Big hART’s pieces it will make you laugh and cry and touch you with its candid authenticity.' (Source: Canberra Theatre Centre website)

Collection of two plays.

'Albert Namatjira was a man of firsts: the first successful Indigenous artist and the first Indigenous man to be made an Australian citizen. At the height of his fame in the 1950s Albert Namatjira's shows sold out within minutes. If you didn't own one of his paintings you probably had a print in your lounge room.

'He also supported over six hundred members of his community, lost two of his ten children to malnutrition, was forbidden to own land, imprisoned for having a drink with his friends, and died a broken man.

'Namatjira is a whole-hearted tribute to a great man. (From the publisher's website.)

'It is the 22nd century in central Australia. Everyday life is basic in this future world. The post climate change environment demands that skills for living return to the way they were for thousands of years before that fast-paced period of just 10 generations, which resulted in global warming and the near destruction of the planet. Eva and Roam have fallen in love and they face a life and death predicament as they run from an unseen enemy, because of their wrong-skin marriage.'

Source: Adelaide Festival Centre website, www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au (sighted 10/05/2010)

'This collaborative piece uses real time video, musical composition, and performance to tell the story of Flynn's homeland, travels, films, politics, lovers, nihilism and his misplaced desire to wrestle sharks and catch bullets.'

Source: Perth International Arts Festival 2003 promotional information. http://www.perthfestival.com.au/Festival/index.cfm/fuseaction/events.detail/pkEvent/100184/ Sighted 2003