[Ngapartji Updates] ngapartji ngapartji 2006 wrap up!

Sun Dec 17 18:30:07 PST 2006

It's been an amazing year for the Ngapartji Ngapartji project....We've 
set up an office in an old demountable at IAD (Institute for Aboriginal 
Development) which has become a busy hub for workshops, bush trips and 
film making. We made several trips to Pukatja (Ernabella), S.A and 
launched the website for Melbourne, Perth and Sydney audiences and now 
have 200 people engaged in our online language and culture site. In June 
we presented a developmental showing of the stage production to Alice 
Springs audiences at the Araluen Centre, over 700 people attended. 
Feedback from the community was very positive and helped us further 
develop the work for presentation in Melbourne later in the year.

The profile of Ngapartji Ngapartji has continued to grow through 
substantial national media coverage about the project, language 
preservation and the production; http://www.ngapartji.org/news.html. We 
presented the project at many conferences including Straight Out of 
Brisbane Festival, Regional Arts Australia Conference, Mackay and 
International Colloquium on Prevention of Crime, Canberra.

With only a week's break between the Ngapartji Ngapartji world premiere 
at Melbourne International Arts Festival in October and the presentation 
of the smaller language show for Message Sticks at the Sydney Opera 
House, the last few months for the Ngapartji Ngapartji team have been 
demanding and rewarding for the whole team as new audiences hear this 
story and engage with the language learning and the broader project for 
the first time.

Each of the six nights of our season in Melbourne audiences were moved 
to a standing ovation, which was wonderful for the ensemble cast, some 
of whom were performing on a stage of this scale for the first time. The 
young people also performed at the Festival '/Kids Club'/ where the 
young fellas from Pukatja, Mervyn and Nathaniel, played some of their 
original music, first time performer from Alice, Sadie, taught a 
traditional crow dance and Zoe and the /kungkas/ (young women) helped 
the kids make crows out of clay.

One of many reviews of the show; http://www.aussietheatre.net/revnga.htm
And some site participants and audience responses: 
http://www.ngapartji.org/performance.html

Another highlight of the tour was a day trip to Healesville to be 
welcomed to Melbourne by Wurundjeri elders. The Aboriginal Children's 
Choir performed a number of songs in different Aboriginal languages 
including a song in Wurundjeri. The cast of Ngapartji Ngapartji then 
exchanged some of the songs from the show and were impressed at how 
quickly the kids picked up the new words - such an inspiring exchange. 
Members of the cast also made time to catch up with learning groups who 
had formed to work through the Ngapartji Ngapartji language site 
together. The ladies were so impressed at the level these students had 
reached by themselves and the reality at what is happening through this 
project was evident - a new meeting place is being proposed, where 
non-Indigenous Australians are being invited to listen, to learn, to be 
students and for the A_n_angu to be the teachers and experts.  

On this level Sydney was equally moving for all of us. Audience members 
returning night after night to get a taste of the project, 
enthusiastically repeating the language they learned throughout the 
show. This show was a chance to introduce new audiences to the website, 
showing some of the films being made in Alice and Pukatja, as well as 
meeting the rest of the Ngapartji Ngapartji offstage crew. One of the 
features of this version of the show is Elton Wirri's artwork, mounted 
as a torn-up painting which is slowly revealed by the young people 
piecing it together throughout the show and a landscape drawn by Elton 
with chalk in real time during the performance echoing the western 
desert style of his grandfather. Sixteen-year-old Elton, who has been 
involved in Ngapartji Ngapartji since its beginning, received much well 
deserved attention for his talents and we hope an exhibition of his work 
will accompany the return Sydney season in 2007.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/the-skill-of-namatjiras-grandson/2006/10/31/1162278141730.html 

It's been a hectic schedule for everyone and though 'the show's over' 
until the Perth season in February, it's time to tend to funding 
submissions and planning to keep the project happening on the ground in 
Alice Springs, undertake broader research regarding language policy and 
programs in Australia as well as return to the website and keep that 
production going. Next year we're looking at incorporating more literacy 
into the project in response to A_n_angu participants who have expressed 
an interest in the project 'exchanging' more English literacy for the 
Pitjantjatjara learning. As Pantjiti McKenzie says (in a letter to the 
Government requesting funding):

Ngapartji Ngapartji English munu Pitjantjatjara nintiringkuntjaku, 
Ngapartji Ngapartjinya wi_r_u nga_r_antjaku rawa mulapa. Panya ngana_n_a 
pulka_r_a mukuringanyi Ngapartji Ngapartjila nintintjikitja nganampa 
wi_r_u nga_r_antjaku Ngapartji Ngapartjinya.
*We must each learn English and Pitjantjatjara so that Ngapartji 
Ngapartji will be a good force for a long time. You see we really want 
to teach in Ngapartji Ngapartji so that it will remain and thrive.*

We plan to start the program next year with Dani and Batesy heading out 
to Docker River with some of the young people from town to run video and 
performance-making workshops. Docker River is the community where Elton, 
Julie and Sadie are originally from - right out west near the WA border. 
Tickets are on sale (and selling fast, opening night is already sold 
out!) for the Perth season and dates will soon be confirmed for the 
Sydney season. 
http://perthfestival.com.au/index.cfm?go=events.view&Category=theatre&Event=ngapartji 
<http://perthfestival.com.au/index.cfm?go=events.view&Category=theatre&Event=ngapartji> 

And don't forget you can log in any time to engage with our unique 
language and culture site at http://ninti.ngapartji.org 
<http://ninti.ngapartji.org/>

Thanks for all your support, engagement and enthusiasm for the project, 
we are thrilled with where we are now and - after a good rest - can't 
wait for the next year!

Happy Christmas and wonderful New Year,
Ngapartji Ngapartji

-- 

http://www.ngapartji.org
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