78 •Metro Magazine 195 | © ATOM
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Choir rehearsal that she attended, in a small church in
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has spent the last seven years working with Aboriginal
people and communities, and, in turn, has ‘had access
and privilege to hear some pretty extraordinary music’.
The choir comprises an exceptional group of women
from various remote communities in the desert region
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own languages, namely Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara. They
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3GD 2NMF *DDODQR(2017), which traces the fascinat
ing history of the choral traditions of Central Australia’sSONGLINES
ON SCREEN
Naina Sen’sTheSongKeepers
and Aboriginal Histories
Song holds a special place among many
Aboriginal communities, for whom it em-
bodies a means of commemorating ties
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echoing of past voices into the present
more evident than in the work of the
Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s
Choir, whose story is chronicled in 2017
documentaryThe Song Keepers. With ref-
erence to Paul Williams’ contemporaneous
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Felicity Fordexamines the mastery and
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