Hopes and Fears - Songs from the Woolgoolga Sikh Community
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On Sunday mornings, women gather at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Woolgoolga, New South Wales, to pray and cook food for their community. They sing these devotional songs to bless the food they make. These songs came from the first langar (community kitchen of a place of worship) in India, which began in 1469. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Nikriz Peşrev'
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Tamer Tarik Taskaya grew up in Corum and Ankara, Turkey. He chose to migrate to Australia in 2010 to avoid military service in Turkey. Nikriz Peşrev is a classical Ottoman song, composed by Ali Ufkî in the 1600s, that Tamer has arranged to be played on the cello. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Tele l'a ole Sami (Let Me Hear You Whisper)'
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Iosefa, Tautala, Semi and Diane learnt the song Tele l'a ole Sami while growing up in Samoa. Their performance was recorded in Griffith, New South Wales. This popular Samoan song was composed in 1954 by Napoleon Tuiteleleapaga, Ray Evans and Jay Livingston. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Tarantella Dell’emigrante'
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Dr Salvatore Rossano is from the region of Apulia, Italy. He composed Tarantella Dell’emigrante on the accordion while completing his National Folk Fellowship on Italian folk music at the National Library of Australia. This song is inspired by the stories and traditions of migrants from Calabria, and is dedicated to those who have left their homelands for a better life. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Seni Mokosoi'
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Newlyweds Radike and Eta Qereqeretabua relocated from Fiji to Australia in 1966 after Radike was awarded a scholarship to study librarianship. While living in Australia, they did live performances of traditional Fijian folk songs, such as Seni Mokosoi. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Isabela'
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Oscar Jimenez grew up in Barranquilla, Colombia. He migrated in 2000 for his tertiary education and continues to work in Australia as a musician. His original song, Isabela, was composed in 2004. It is dedicated to his family in Colombia, specifically his niece Isabela, and explores how distance can help us appreciate our roots. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Thank You Australia'
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Zuhir Naji is from Damascas, Syria. He ran a music school before leaving Syria with his family in 2013. The Naji family lived in Jordan for three years before coming to Australia as refugees. Thank you Australia is an original composition, played on the oud, that Naji has performed at Government House. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Bāng Chhun-hong (Spring Breeze)' and 'Ú lā Hoe (Rainy Night Flower)'
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Kim Yang is from Taipei, Taiwan, and migrated to Australia in 2012. Bāng Chhun-hong (Spring Breeze) and Ú lā Hoe (Rainy Night Flower), performed by Yang, are love songs composed by Taiwanese Hakka musician Teng Yu-Hsien in the 1930s. Both were adapted into patriotic songs by the Japanese military during World War II. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Dume'
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Ihor Kushnir was born in Adelaide to a Ukrainian father and Belarussian-Ukrainian mother. He plays and teaches the bandura, a Ukrainian string instrument. Dume is a traditional piece that Kushnir has arranged on the bandura for his band the Yellow Blue Bus. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
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Hopes and Fears - 'Hanap Ko (What Am I Looking For)'
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Christian Ramilo, nicknamed Bong, was born in Manilla, The Philippines. He wrote Hanap Ko in 1983 during the martial law period under President Ferdinand Marcos. Hanap Ko (What Am I Looking For) is about searching for strength to continue his activist work against the Marcos dictatorship. Christian migrated to Australia in 1986 and was granted residence on humanitarian grounds. Learn about our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition:
info_outlineIn the late sixties, an engineering lecturer had a wild party at his home in suburban Melbourne. It was election night, and tensions were high.
The lecturer had aspirations to be a playwright and what he saw going on around him, well, he reckoned it might make a good play.
The aspiring playwright was David Williamson, and the party inspired Don’s Party, one of Australia’s first ever home grown blockbusters.
Here, we chart the story from an AV Jennings stage in Bundoora to the many, many productions since.
Links:
National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition
Papers of David Williamson at the National Library of Australia
Guests:
David Williamson, Playwright
Credits:
Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage
Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage