2008 Yirdaki Masterclass with Djalu' Gurruwiwi

plaoassef · **Joined:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:09 pm **Posts:** 1

Hello ,i´m plao (as in bald in spanish), I tried getting the money together to go to the masterclasses but living in argentina is hard enough o pay the rent,
so i would be more than glad to advance money to help produce a dvd or cd of the masterclases, and shure could get some more people interested down here....anything i can help ot just giv a buzz,
many thanks Guan for all the time and effort put into this
plao

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:00 am

There might have been some questions people had which were not brought to my attention, and which might have led to speculations, rumours, uncertainty and all those sorts of things, with regards to the Masterclass.

I just want to address that here so that there isn't any misunderstanding, but feel free to ask questions if you need further clarity on anything else.

Basically, the Masterclass is going ahead and it is all systems go!

More later...

Guan

SeriousChris · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:42 am

Hi Guan

the whole uncertainty about the timing of the Rripangu Yidaki Masterclass arose because of this statement on the official Garma website:

Quote:

At its 2007 annual general meeting, the board of the Yothu Yindi Foundation decided that the Garma Festival's Yidaki Masterclass would be cancelled for five years following the death of the Masterclass co-convener.

This decision was taken after a request from the immediate family and as a matter of respect in accordance with Yolngu cultural tradition. The next Yidaki Masterclass will be at the Garma Festival of 2013.

Djalu Gurruwiwi will continue to teach yidaki but not at the Festival. Any Yidaki Masterclass enquiries will be forwarded to his management.

if nobody of Milkay's family or Garma has an issue with the timing or the naming of the Rripangu Yidaki Masterclass, this is indeed great - and if we get the statements from the ones that you've mentioned, even better.

This kind of certainty is all I was hoping for and I'll happily accept a public rapping on the knuckles in exchange for it - and then can and wholeheartedly will recommend the event and wish the ones that have already committed for it an excellent time.

Cheers
Christian

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:17 am

Hi Christian,

I am happy you are prepared to take the rap over this. I would go further than that of course :shock:

... Who's got the whip, the cat-o-nine-tails? Anyone here know the Chinese finger-nail torture trick? :lol:

What I would like to offer those who have had issues or concerns is the following communication I had with Alan James from Yothu Yindi Foundation who is the Garma Festival organiser. I hope this will end all speculation and rumours about Djalu's Rripangu Yirdaki Masterclass. AJ said to me that it was his "expectation that Djalu would be holding several Masterclasses during the year", and that from an "official Garma viewpoint", he has "no problems with Djalu's Masterclass in July".

I read something very interesting the other day which I can't really summarise so I'll quote in full:

Quote:

Most anthropologists I know working within Aboriginal Australia bring home paintings from their fieldwork. Given as presents, or bought from artists who come knocking looking for private sales at times when the art coordinator isn't buying, these works are infused with meanings for the buyer that exceed anything that could be purchased from a gallery.

But early on in my fieldwork, Bangana told me that Yolngu in Gapuwiyak don't make paintings to sell to Balanda. Along with the ban on discos, the clan leaders who founded Gapuwiyak frowned on the production and sale of clan designs as "art". According to Bangana, Yolngu in Gapuwiyak disapprove of the reproduction of this kind of imagery, seeing it as highly inappropriate public revelation of sacra that should be retained for ceremonial use only. He said that the fact that Yolngu from other places chose to paint and sell barks demonstrated a lack of respect for associated clans who share rights, responsibilities, and sacred connections to this Ancestral material.

Whereas Yolngu in neighbouring Yirrkala - a community with a long and celebrated history of bark painting production - used bark paintings to demonstrate Culture to Balanda, Yolngu in Gapuwiyak demonstrated their Culture to other Yolngu by refusing to make and sell paintings. The work of painting clan designs on the bodies of initiates and sacred objects remains an active part of cultural life, but always within the controlled and containable contexts of the ceremony ground. Clearly the fact that there was no art production was not a simple matter of a lack of skill but rather evidence of an active resistance to the demands of an art market - as well as (at least, as I see it) a strategic attempt to position Gapuwiyak Yolngu as Culturally superior to the famous Yolngu artists of Yirrkala - page 114, Shimmering Screens by Jennifer Deger.

Wow. That's pretty heavy and powerful stuff. What it means to me is that we're on such perilous ground when having anything to do with someone else's culture. The risk of offending an individual or a whole community is so great that there really isn't any way in which we can engage with culture - let alone talk about it, own it, or sell it - without the issue of (mis)appropriation raising its head.

Which is why I think it is all the more such an incredible thing for someone like Djalu to open his culture to outsiders, to share it with people he doesn't know. It really is a special gift to be presented with an opportunity like this.

Other than that, I don't really know what else to say, except that everyone will need to decide for themselves what they're willing to engage in, the consequences of their actions, and the myriad self-doubts, pleasant surprises and downright awful things that could happen.

Guan

stockie · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:38 pm

Quote:

ididjaustralia wrote:

Hi Christian,

I am happy you are prepared to take the rap over this. I would go further than that of course :shock:

... Who's got the whip, the cat-o-nine-tails? Anyone here know the Chinese finger-nail torture trick? :lol:

Ok, I had to do an edit here because I don't want to give the impression that I'm an arsehole. Or maybe I should just show my true colours and not try to hide it?! Ummm.....

Anyway, apologies if I have been hot-headed about this, but having focussed so intensely on this project for months and the worry that accompanies the responsibility of carrying the project to completion...

What I would like to offer those who have had issues or concerns is the following communication I had with Alan James from Yothu Yindi Foundation who is the Garma Festival organiser. I hope this will end all speculation and rumours about Djalu's Rripangu Yirdaki Masterclass. AJ said to me that it was his "expectation that Djalu would be holding several Masterclasses during the year", and that from an "official Garma viewpoint", he has "no problems with Djalu's Masterclass in July".

I read something very interesting the other day which I can't really summarise so I'll quote in full:

Quote:

Most anthropologists I know working within Aboriginal Australia bring home paintings from their fieldwork. Given as presents, or bought from artists who come knocking looking for private sales at times when the art coordinator isn't buying, these works are infused with meanings for the buyer that exceed anything that could be purchased from a gallery.

But early on in my fieldwork, Bangana told me that Yolngu in Gapuwiyak don't make paintings to sell to Balanda. Along with the ban on discos, the clan leaders who founded Gapuwiyak frowned on the production and sale of clan designs as "art". According to Bangana, Yolngu in Gapuwiyak disapprove of the reproduction of this kind of imagery, seeing it as highly inappropriate public revelation of sacra that should be retained for ceremonial use only. He said that the fact that Yolngu from other places chose to paint and sell barks demonstrated a lack of respect for associated clans who share rights, responsibilities, and sacred connections to this Ancestral material.

Whereas Yolngu in neighbouring Yirrkala - a community with a long and celebrated history of bark painting production - used bark paintings to demonstrate Culture to Balanda, Yolngu in Gapuwiyak demonstrated their Culture to other Yolngu by refusing to make and sell paintings. The work of painting clan designs on the bodies of initiates and sacred objects remains an active part of cultural life, but always within the controlled and containable contexts of the ceremony ground. Clearly the fact that there was no art production was not a simple matter of a lack of skill but rather evidence of an active resistance to the demands of an art market - as well as (at least, as I see it) a strategic attempt to position Gapuwiyak Yolngu as Culturally superior to the famous Yolngu artists of Yirrkala - page 114, Shimmering Screens by Jennifer Deger.

Wow. That's pretty heavy and powerful stuff. What it means to me is that we're on such perilous ground when having anything to do with someone else's culture. The risk of offending an individual or a whole community is so great that there really isn't any way in which we can engage with culture - let alone talk about it, own it, or sell it - without the issue of (mis)appropriation raising its head.

Which is why I think it is all the more such an incredible thing for someone like Djalu to open his culture to outsiders, to share it with people he doesn't know. It really is a special gift to be presented with an opportunity like this.

Other than that, I don't really know what else to say, except that everyone will need to decide for themselves what they're willing to engage in, the consequences of their actions, and the myriad self-doubts, pleasant surprises and downright awful things that could happen.

Guan

Am I not right and forgive me if im wrong that this issue is what the whole Garma festival (and that of other aboriginal peoples else where in oz and festivals all over the world for that matter) all about the opening up (where appropriate and deemed ok by clan members) of different cultures so that the understanding of that culture is spread and shared and also the taking of those giving of the understanding of those attending the festivals/cultural activities. and also that there is an element of control that from the Yolngu people that only appropriate elements are shared in the sence anything which is already public and shared with in Yolngu culture and its peoples is OK to share with non aboriginals and that which is sacred/secret remains that way and that it does not become a public spectical or gets "americanised/dysnefied. As as what has happened in other cultures around the world, native american, mowery etc. I site the guys from the the Shoulin monks who now go on world tours and break bricks on there heads im sure that that is not an every day happening. there are elements of all cultures which are shared wrld wide and I get the impression that most of Yolngu clans accept that there has been a wind of change happening with the introduction of land rights, self governing and the opening up more so recently of Arnehm land to tourists and that to increase the enabaling of Yolngu and aborigional self that they need to embrace this wind of change and better still for them control it so they can gain from it as well as us spoty Balanda gaining from it as well and not turning out to be a spectical of camera happy tourists going "oh agnus look at these lovely natives" that has gone on else where for years.

also on the same boat but different tack Guan is there anything happening regards getting hold of a copy (if and when produced) of the masterclass on DVD/video? is it still an option for those who for whatever reason cannot attend?

Peter Lister · **Posted:** Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:53 am

ididjaustralia wrote:

Wow. That's pretty heavy and powerful stuff. What it means to me is that we're on such perilous ground when having anything to do with someone else's culture. The risk of offending an individual or a whole community is so great that there really isn't any way in which we can engage with culture - let alone talk about it, own it, or sell it - without the issue of (mis)appropriation raising its head.

Guan

Yes, powerful, but powerful from both sides of the equation. This means that in this situation these Yolngu have control of what they are disseminating - we're not to know if it's a part or a whole of a story - and that's perfectly OK I reckon. I think it creates more problems for them within their own culture than it does for us because they are crossing intergroup boundaries in making decisions to release or retain such knowledge, and that sort of thing takes some pretty serious sorting-out before it leaves the boundaries of their culture. I imagine that a forum like Garma is a way to help smooth out such decision making before it makes it into a more public domain.

I'm sure there has always been a degree of "infighting" along these lines - 'objects' move into and out of the "sacred" or profane with the decades and there are processes to deal with conflict surrounding this so I imagine too that such processes would be employed in this case. Maybe it will always be a source of friction - but that's a very different matter to the sort of problems we create by misusing such knowledge when it comes our way.

Dion's_Didjies · **Joined:** Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:29 pm **Posts:** 10

im missin' somethin' or wat? r there placez left if im interestz?

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2008 12:11 am

Hi Dion,

Sorry for not writing earlier but yes, there are still places. Let me know if you are considering attending and if you have questions.

The previous list of people I had was:

Morgan
Beni
Jason
Roberto
Lauren
Andrew
Kota
Andrew
Brendan
Garth
Jonathon + partner or father
Jan
Jack
Fiona
Sean

Ryohei
Marcos

I'd had further interest with the following names a strong possibility of attending but not confirmed, with a handful of names above not confirmed either:

Nick
Davide and Licia
Andrew
Ray
Jesse
Kristian

This list is mainly for me to keep track of people as it gives me a good overview of how things are going in terms of numbers and the associated work we need to do before the Masterclass.

Guan

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:00 am

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBccckROF-w[/youtube]

Guan

ididjaustralia · **Posted:** Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:11 pm

More vids from the Rripangu Yirdaki Masterclass 2008:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEAv6csnfuY[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSP1-aiRC1Q[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjJtV35mmkQ[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrWYQx_zzIM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKlXYUQSBPU[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwqIX7TlP9o[/youtube]

Guan

iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

2008 Yirdaki Masterclass with Djalu' Gurruwiwi

Who is online