Metro Australia — January 2018

84 •Metro Magazine 195 | © ATOM

and there is little time to translate before they go to air. While

everything does fall into place and the performance receives

D VWDQGLQJ RYDWLRQ WKLV PRPHQW KLJKOLJKWV WKH UROH WKDW *URVH

and Hohnen played in the singer’s career, particularly in terms

RI QHJRWLDWLQJ GHDGOLQHV DQG H[SHFWDWLRQV IRU DQ H[WHQVLYH

international touring schedule. The documentary also focuses

RQ WKH FXOWXUDO GLIIHUHQFHV DQG PLVFRPPXQLFDWLRQV WKDW RFFXU

when translating or translocating these songs and stories for

WKH ZRUOG VWDJH

:LOOLDPVp ĺOP RIIHUV DQ LQWHUHVWLQJ FRPSDULVRQ WR 6HQpV LQ

ZKLFK UHZRUNHG *HUPDQ EDURTXH K\PQV DUH WH[WXUHG E\ WKH

languages of the surrounding communities. In the same way that

6WLQJpV O\ULFV DUH UHVFULSWHG LQWR DQG WUDQVIRUPHG E\ WKH *XPDWM

language used by Yunupingu, these hymns are shaped into

songlines by themembers of the Central Australian Aboriginal

:RPHQpV &KRLU 6HQpV ĺOP TXLWH OLWHUDOO\FHUDR UNHBDto these

hymns andstories. If songs allow these women to preserve and

pass on their knowledge, culture and language, then3GD 2NMF

*DDODQRt DQG WKH ĺOPPDNLQJ WUDGLWLRQ PRUH JHQHUDOO\ t LV D YDOX

DEOH H[WHQVLRQ RI WKLV DLP 7KH ĺOPV E\ 6HQ DQG :LOOLDPV FDSWXUH

the multiplicityand complexity of these various histories and tradi

WLRQV PDQ\ RI ZKLFK KDYH EHHQ VLOHQFHG RU VORZO\ HUDVHG

Hearing the women singing these hymns in Arrernte and

Pitjantjatjara is an act of connection and a gesture towards

understanding. The ethereal majesty of the hymns is anchored

throughout the documentary by interviews with the women, who

speak about their experiences on the missions and the role of the

choir in preserving their cultures. Most of the interviews take place

DURXQG 1WDULD 7KH DUHD ZDV HVWDEOLVKHG DV WKH /XWKHUDQ PLVVLRQ

of Hermannsburg in 1877 and, while the land was not returned to

Aboriginal people until 1982, the languages of the area were pre

served during this time. This was, in part, owing to the missionar

ies’ efforts to communicate with the local people and willingness

to learn their languages.^6 Within only three years of arriving, they

KDG WUDQVODWHG ĺIW\WKUHH *HUPDQ K\PQV^7

:KHQ 6HQ UHĻHFWV RQ WKH KLVWRU\ RI WKH PLVVLRQV LQ WKHVH FRP

munities, she emphasises the centrality of language and music in

opening up a dialogue between two very different cultures: ‘If you

codify language, you preserve language. You preserve language,

you inadvertently preserve culture.’ If the missionaries inadvertent

O\ SUHVHUYHG ODQJXDJH DQG FXOWXUH E\ WUDQVODWLQJ /XWKHUDQ K\PQV

IRU $ERULJLQDO FRPPXQLWLHV WKHQ 6HQpV ĺOP LQ WXUQ FRQWLQXHV WKLV

legacy by listening to these women, hearing their songs and shar

ing these performances and stories.

To ‘give voice’ to something is to provide it with a platform,

WR ERWK OLVWHQ LQ DQG DOORZ LW WR SURMHFW RXW %\ UHFRUGLQJ WKHVH

songs and anchoring them to narratives of experience,3GD 2NMF

*DDODQRtakes back this unspoken past and transports these

histories into the present: the women’s voices occupy space

and time, echoing and resonating in the theatre spaces. There

LV LQGHHG VRPHWKLQJ WUXO\ PDJLFDO DERXW WKH KDUPRQ\ DQG WLPEUH

of the women’s vocals – the way the sound spreads out. French

SKLORVRSKHU-HDQ/XF1DQF\SRVLWVWKDW

SN RNTMC HR SN UHAQ@SD HM HSRDKE NQ AX HSRDKE HS HR MNS NMKX ENQ SGD RN-

MNQNTR ANCX SN DLHS @ RNTMC ATS HS HR @KRN SN RSQDSBG NTS SN B@QQX

HSRDKE @MC AD QDRNKUDC HM UHAQ@SHNMRSG@SANSGQDSTQMHSSNHSRDKE@MC

OK@BDHSŭNTSRHCDHSRDKE

^8

+HUH 1DQF\pV ZRUN HPSKDVLVHV WKH SK\VLFDOLW\ DQG PRELOLW\

of sound in spatial and tactile terms. He refers to a ‘sonorous

SUHVHQWp WKDW oVSUHDGV WKURXJK VSDFH RU UDWKHU >@ RSHQV D

space that is its own, the very spreading out of its resonance,

LWV H[SDQVLRQ DQG LWV UHYHUEHUDWLRQp^9 6HQpV GRFXPHQWDWLRQRIWKH

FKRLU LV D OLVWHQLQJLQ D UHVRQDQFH DQ RSHQLQJXS

At the end of3GD 2NMF *DDODQR WKH FKRLU UHĻHFW RQ WKHLU WRXU

RI *HUPDQ\ DQG RQH RI WKH ZRPHQ -DQLFH FRPPHQWV WKDW WKH\

ZHUH o>W@UHDWHG EHWWHU >WKHUH@ WKDQ >WKH\@ DUH EDFN KRPHp +HU ZRUGV

point not only to Australia’s history of genocide, erasure and sys

temic abuse, but also to ongoing discrimination, racial inequality,

LQFDUFHUDWLRQ UDWHV DQG RXU IDLOXUH WR oFORVH WKH JDSp /LVWHQLQJ WR

these women sing and tell their stories is to hear the ‘contradic

WLRQp WKDW 6HQ KDV DOOXGHG WR D FXULRXV FRH[LVWHQFH RI WZR GLIIHU

ent cultures and traditions that are never quite made into one. The

words and songs of the choir invite us to hear these experiences,

this laughter, this pain, and to allow them to resonate with us.

7KH K\PQV t DQG E\ H[WHQVLRQ 6HQpV ĺOP t HQDEOH D SURFHVV RI

remembering and reclaiming. They speak to diverse, layered histo

ries that extend into the present.

%HIRUH , ĺQLVK XS P\ LQWHUYLHZ ZLWK 6HQ VKH UHPLQGV PH WKDW WKLV

contradiction is ‘not resolved for you with a big bow at the end, be

FDXVH WKDWpV QRW KRZ LW H[LVWVp ,QGHHG WKHVH ĺOPV K\PQV DQG VWRULHV

should never be ‘resolved’, but should – like the voices of the choir

• continue to change, rise and fall, and reverberate outwards.

https://clickv.ie/w/metro/yunupingu

%DKHBHSX %NQC HR @ /G# B@MCHC@SD HM RBQDDM @MC BTKSTQ@K RSTCHDR @S SGD

4MHUDQRHSX NE ,DKANTQMD

 'DQ QDRD@QBG DWOKNQDR CHRQTOSHNMR SN BHM-

ematic form in relation to sound, vision, movement and time. She

HR @ LDLADQ NE SGD ,DKANTQMD "HMĠL@SGğPTD @MC @RDRRHNM@KSTSNQ

HMŭRBQDDMFDMCDQLDCH@@MCBTKSTQ@KRSTCHDR

 m

Endnotes

(^1) 0DUJDUHW 6RPHUYLOOH 7RQ\ 3HUNLQVSinging the Coast$ERULJLQDO
6WXGLHV 3UHVV &DQEHUUD  S 
(^2) 7UHYRU 0DUVKDOOVHD o'U <XQXSLQJX $Q ([TXLVLWH 6LQJHU :KR
q6SRNH WR WKH 6RXOrp%%& 1HZV  -XO\  KWWSZZZEEF
FRPQHZVZRUOGDXVWUDOLD! DFFHVVHG  2FWREHU 
(^3) 7RP &OLIW o0,)) :LOO 3URFHHG ZLWK &ORVLQJ 1LJKW 6FUHHQLQJ RI 'U
<XQXSLQJX 'RFXPHQWDU\pConcrete Playground  $XJXVW 
KWWSVFRQFUHWHSOD\JURXQGFRPPHOERXUQHDUWVHQWHUWDLQPHQW
PLIIZLOOSURFHHGZLWKGUJ\XQXSLQJXGRFXPHQWDU\>, accessed
 2FWREHU 
(^4) ,Q  WKH DOEXP ZRQ %HVW :RUOG 0XVLF $OEXP DQG %HVW ,QGHSHQGHQW
5HOHDVH DW WKH $5,$ $ZDUGV DQG UHFHLYHG WKUHH 'HDGO\ DZDUGV WKH
WKLUG QDPLQJ <XQXSLQJX DV $UWLVW RI WKH <HDU VHH .DWK\ 0F&DEH
o6LQJHU 'U * <XQXSLQJX 'LHV $JHG pNews.com.au  -XO\
 KWWSZZZQHZVFRPDXHQWHUWDLQPHQWPXVLFVLQJHUGUJ
\XQXSLQJXGLHVDJHGQHZVVWRU\DEHFFDEHI
DIH! DFFHVVHG  2FWREHU 
 6HH o$ERXWp 1DLQD 6HQ RIŷFLDO ZHEVLWH KWWSQDLQDVHQFRPDX
about/! DFFHVVHG  2FWREHU 
(^6) 6HH o+HUPDQQVEXUJ +LVWRULF 3UHFLQFWp $XVWUDOLDQ +HULWDJH 'DWDEDVH
'HSDUWPHQW RI WKH (QYLURQPHQW DQG +HULWDJH  )HEUXDU\ 
KWWSVZZZHQYLURQPHQWJRYDXV\VWHPŷOHVUHVRXUFHVHIGIH
FEHEFHIŷOHVKHUPDQQVEXUJSGI>,
DFFHVVHG  2FWREHU 
 .DUO 4XLQQ o0,)) The Song Keepers,V D 5HPDUNDEOH 7DOH
RI &XOWXUH 6XUYLYLQJ DQG 7KULYLQJpThe Age  $XJXVW  ZZZ
WKHDJHFRPDXHQWHUWDLQPHQWPRYLHVPLIIWKHVRQJNHHSHUV
LVDUHPDUNDEOHWDOHRIFXOWXUHVXUYLYLQJDQGWKULYLQJ
J[SYROKWPO! DFFHVVHG  2FWREHU 
(^8) -HDQ/XF 1DQF\Listening WUDQV &KDUORWWH 0DQGHOO)RUGKDP
8QLYHUVLW\ 3UHVV1HZ<RUN>@S}
 LELGS}