Strategies for Sustaining Aboriginal Song and Dance in the Modern World: the Mowanjum and Fitzroy River Valley communities of WA. This project makes a major contribution to the community in which it is based by developing an appropriate and efficient model for cultural maintenance and regeneration through repatriation, recording, documentation, and digital dissemination. National benefit derives from the development of a model to preserve and sustain endangered cultural knowledges associated wit ....Strategies for Sustaining Aboriginal Song and Dance in the Modern World: the Mowanjum and Fitzroy River Valley communities of WA. This project makes a major contribution to the community in which it is based by developing an appropriate and efficient model for cultural maintenance and regeneration through repatriation, recording, documentation, and digital dissemination. National benefit derives from the development of a model to preserve and sustain endangered cultural knowledges associated with song and dance, and a pre-emptive strategy for the recovery of almost extinct traditions. National benefit also derives from establishing Australia at the forefront of international efforts to safeguard intangible cultural heritages, by revealing how access to recordings via digital platforms contributes to cultural maintenance and regeneration.Read moreRead less
When the Waters Will Be One: Indigenous Performance Traditions at the New Frontier of Inter-Cultural Discourse in Arnhem Land. This project will examine the emerging roles of Indigenous performance traditions from Arnhem Land as fulcra for the strategic development of new discourses between peoples of the region and the international community. The adaptation of music and dance traditions to new media and performance contexts will be considered as will the hereditary intellectual paradigms that ....When the Waters Will Be One: Indigenous Performance Traditions at the New Frontier of Inter-Cultural Discourse in Arnhem Land. This project will examine the emerging roles of Indigenous performance traditions from Arnhem Land as fulcra for the strategic development of new discourses between peoples of the region and the international community. The adaptation of music and dance traditions to new media and performance contexts will be considered as will the hereditary intellectual paradigms that underpin these processes. This project will also investigate historical antecedents to these new developments within the past 50 years, and explore their centrality to current attempts by Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land to achieve cultural and economic sustainability amid a continuing period of radical social change.Read moreRead less
Acoustics of the Didjeridu. We shall undertake a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of the acoustics of the didjeridu-lips-vocal tract system. There is very little published technical literature on the dynamic acoustics of this important and uniquely Australian instrument, whose operation is surprisingly complex. A combination of stroboscopic measurements of lip motion, acoustic and vocal tract impedance measurements, MRI imaging of the vocal tract and computer modeling will be use ....Acoustics of the Didjeridu. We shall undertake a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of the acoustics of the didjeridu-lips-vocal tract system. There is very little published technical literature on the dynamic acoustics of this important and uniquely Australian instrument, whose operation is surprisingly complex. A combination of stroboscopic measurements of lip motion, acoustic and vocal tract impedance measurements, MRI imaging of the vocal tract and computer modeling will be used to synthesize all components of the acoustic system into one quantitative model. The expected outcome will be an understanding of this instrument of unparalleled detail.Read moreRead less
Planning for Sustainability of the National Indigenous Recording Project: a pilot project. This pilot project lays the essential groundwork for Yothu Yindi Foundation to carry out the National Recording Project for Indigenous Music, which will aim to record, document and archive today's leading performers of traditional music across Australia. Through workshops and community consultations, the pilot project will allow the Chief Investigators to collaborate with YYF to develop appropriate recordi ....Planning for Sustainability of the National Indigenous Recording Project: a pilot project. This pilot project lays the essential groundwork for Yothu Yindi Foundation to carry out the National Recording Project for Indigenous Music, which will aim to record, document and archive today's leading performers of traditional music across Australia. Through workshops and community consultations, the pilot project will allow the Chief Investigators to collaborate with YYF to develop appropriate recording and documentation methods that are sensitive to indigenous priorities and conformant with international best practice.Read moreRead less
Performing Indigenous Sovereignty: Aboriginal Australian commercial performances 1800-1949. This project strengthens our understanding of Australia's place in the world and enhances our capacity to interpret ourselves by substantially enriching knowledge about Australian race relations in the nineteenth century. This new knowledge about Indigenous participation within the material and cultural economies of Australia adds significant new dimensions to Australian cultural history. This also contr ....Performing Indigenous Sovereignty: Aboriginal Australian commercial performances 1800-1949. This project strengthens our understanding of Australia's place in the world and enhances our capacity to interpret ourselves by substantially enriching knowledge about Australian race relations in the nineteenth century. This new knowledge about Indigenous participation within the material and cultural economies of Australia adds significant new dimensions to Australian cultural history. This also contributes to Australia's internationally recognised leadership in cross-cultural performance studies, informing pedagogy and scholarship. This project has the added benefit of contributing to the mental health and well being of Indigenous people by reclaiming positive elements of their cultural history since colonisation.Read moreRead less