Symposium—Murrudha: Sovereign Walks (Track #3)/ Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality

Join Professor Brenda L. Croft, eminent guests and panel members in a two-day symposium centered on 'Murrudha: Sovereign walks - tracking cultural actions through art, Country, language and music' (2020 - 2025) and the collaborative exhibition 'Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality', currently at the Drill Hall Gallery. Panels will explore and reflect on topics such as: contemporary and historical cultural sovereign actions, personal and collective reflections; ancestral obligations and cultural continuity; and oral history storytelling through song and language.

The symposium is preceded by an evening welcome event and special screenings on Monday 12 December at the National Film and Sound Archives; and includes two days of stimulating panel discussions associated with the ANU Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Collaborative Scheme project, 'Murrudha: Sovereign Walks - tracking cultural actions through art, Country, language and music' and the collaborative exhibition 'Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality'.. https://tickets.nfsa.gov.au/Events/THE-NIGHTINGALE-Q-A

Tuesday 13 December will focus on 'Murrudha: Sovereign Walks - Track #3', Wednesday 13 December will focus on 'Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality. The symposium culminates on the evening of Wednesday 14 with 'Gather Round People', free performance with Alinta Barlow, Jye Cole, Dale Huddleston, Djinama Yilaga celebrating esteemed First Nations Knowledge Holder and Songman, Dr Kev Carmody's ANU Honorary Doctorate Award, 2022. Look for full program details on our website.

You can reserve tickets here for: the full two day symposium; Tuesday 13 December only or Wednesday 14 December only.

Kev Carmody Q + A on Wednesday 14 December 9.30-10.30am: Tickets for this event are included in the full two day and Wednesday 14 December ticket bookings. If you are interested in joining the Kev Carmody Q + A only, please reserve a ticket here.

Single panel sessions: If you are interested in joining one of the single panel session rather than a full symposium day please email anne-marie.jean@anu.edu.au

Gather 'Round People, evening concert celebrating Dr Kev Carmody: Following the symposium join us for a performance celebrating Dr Kev Carmody, headlined by Electric Fields, featuring Alinta Barlow, Jye Cole, Dale Huddleston and Djinama Yilaga. Wednesday 14 December, 7.30 - 10.30pm, Manning Clark Hall, Kambri Precinct, ANU. Reserve a ticket here.

Symposium overview:

Professor Brenda L Croft is from the Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra peoples from the Victoria River region of the Northern Territory of Australia, and Anglo-Australian/German/Irish/Chinese heritage. Brenda is privileged to live and work on the unceded sovereign lands of the Ngambri/Ngunnawal Peoples.

Brenda's four decade multi-disciplinary practice-led research encompasses critical performative Indigenous auto-ethnography, representation and identity, Indigenous Storywork and creative narratives, installation, multi-media and multi-platform work, particularly a in long-standing engagement with patrilineal family and community members, both on traditional homelands and also as part of dispossessed, Gurindji-affiliated communities.

'Murrudha: Sovereign Walks - Track #3' is part of 'Murrudha: Sovereign Walks- Tracking cultural actions through art, Country, language and music', supported by ANU Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge, and College of Arts and Social Sciences. For more details see our website.

'Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality' is developed in partnership with UNSW Galleries, UQ Art Museum, and Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation, an Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous 2012 Award with support from UNSW Art + Design, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, UQ Node, Postgraduate Research Award 2015 and the Berndt Research Foundation. Tour presented by Artback NT and supported by Visions of Australia. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts. For more details see our website.

We acknowledge and celebrate the First Nations Peoples on whose traditional lands we meet, and pay our respect to the Elders past and present.

The Drill Hall Gallery acknowledges the Ngambri and Ngunnawal peoples, the traditional custodians of the Canberra region, and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country.

Special thanks to Electric Fields, Diana Sautell, performers & all personnel associated with 'Gather 'Round People' celebration at Manning Clark Hall, Kambri Precinct, ANU; Andrea Morris, ANU Advancement & IHWGC Executive for their support for these connected events.