Indigenous week at VCA will keep the fire burning

[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 1  14 April - 12 May 2008 ]

Music, dance, food, film, language and debate are among highlights of a festival which honours Indigenous students and artists at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) next week.

The annual festival, called Wilin Week, is open to the public and hosted by the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the VCA. This year’s festival will run from Monday to Thursday 21–24 April.

‘Wilin’ means ‘fire’ in the Woi Wurrung language of the Wurundjeri, one of the five tribes of the Kulin Nation, the traditional owners of the land the VCA occupies.

Throughout Wilin Week a fire is lit and kept alight, symbolising the centre’s commitment to Indigenous artists and their creative flames.

Drawing on the United Nations International Year of Languages 2008, Wilin Week this year will honour all Indigenous Australian languages – lost, found and surviving.

The celebration recognises the idea that language connects Indigenous Australians to ancestors and can be vital in keeping creative fires burning. More than 500 dialects and 250 distinct languages are believed to have been spoken at the time of initial European settlement.

Wilin Week activities will point to how Australia’s past and present Indigenous languages ultimately sustain Aboriginal cultural, creative and spiritual knowledge.

Among those highlighting Aboriginal creativity in language will be special guest artist-in-residence, performing artist and Indigenous languages researcher Ray Kelly; acclaimed actor Tom E Lewis; singer/songwriter Kutcha Edwards; didgeridoo player Ron Murray; and hip-hop sensation the Yung Warriors.

Other events and performances will include the Brown Roots Collective and traditional dancer Wayne Thorpe.

Wilin Week 2008 – Mother Tongues: Honouring Indigenous Australian Languages, The Victorian College of the Arts, 234 St Kilda Road, Southbank. See full program details at: www.vca.unimelb.edu.au/wilinweek/