In Australia

In Australia, Gilberto Gil explores both urban and rural contexts to discuss the Aboriginal situation.

Timmy ‘Djawa’ Burarrwanga
Timmy  belongs to the Gumatj Clan and is currently the chairman of the Yirrkala Dhanbul Community Association. With his family he operates Bawaka, a unique Indigenous tourism venture, based on cultural exchange, that operates on their ancestral homeland in north eastern Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Patrick Dodson
Born 1947, Patrick Dodson is a prominent Indigenous activist from Broome, Western Australia. Among many other things, he is a former Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, a former Commissioner into the Aboriginal Deaths in custody as well as the recipient of the prestigious Sydney Peace Prize (2008).

Peter Garrett 
Former singer of the rock group Midnight Oil, as well as ecological activist, Peter Garrett is internationally known for his hit Beds are Burning (recorded after having spent part of 1986 in the Australian bush among Aboriginal tribes). Today, he is a major Australian politician (Minister for Environment, Heritage and Arts between 2007 and 2010; Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth since summer 2010). He is not always unanimously popular; he is criticized for having purportedly forgotten some of his convictions of his youth. In Viramundo, he is a « kind » of Australian equivalent for Gilberto Gil, except that in Garett’s case, he seems to have definitively (?) chosen politics rather than songs to convey his ideas. visit website

Rrawun Maymuru, East Journey
East Journey is a long-time music project of Garrangali Band member, Rrawun Maymuru, who lives in Yirrkala, northeast Arnhem Land. Rrawun has performed in groundbreaking band Yothu Yindu and collaborated with Gurrumul. East Journey‘s other band members also live within the Laynhapuy Homelands in Arnhem Land.In Viramundo, Rrawun shares his compositions with Giblerto Gil, most of the communication takes place through music. visit website

Shellie Morris
Born in the Darwin area, Shellie Morris was adopted by a white Australian family shortly after her birth in 1965.  She grew up in Sydney where she studied the flute, piano and singing. In the nineties, she decided to leave in search of her biological family and so moved to Darwin where she began a fruitful career as a singer-composer. She also spends time to work with Aboriginal communities and youth throughout Australia, helping Aboriginal people to write music about their stories and experiences. In Viramundo, she acts as Gil’s guide in contemporary Australia and helps him to evolve within white and Aboriginal communities with their, often antagonistic, visions of society. Shellie Morris represents the will to reconstruct and protect her own endangered culture. visit website

Mulka Project
The Mulka Project aims to support the Aboriginal community of Yirrkala (Northern Territory, 1’000 km east of Darwin) and to reinforce their identity. On the one hand, it seeks to retrieve pieces of its cultural heritage, which have been dispersed outside the community. On the other, it allows Aboriginals to become familiar with new media and opens the community up to the opportunities offered by broadcast via digital channels (DVD, internet). visit website

Djakapurra Munyarryun
Djakapurra Munyarryun was born in Yirrkala as a member of the Munyarryun clan of northeast Arnhem Land. He was raised with traditional dance and ceremony as an integral part of his life and as a teenager toured Australia with elders from Yirrkala, teaching and conducting traditional dance and music workshops. He became a pivotal member of Bangarra Dance Theatre and is today one of Australia’s most acclaimed Indigenous performers.

Tjimba Possum Burns, The Yung Warriors
Tjimba Possum-Burns is a young Aboriginal artist who writes his own music and lyrics, using rap and hip hop styles. He can also cut it live, playing guitar and didgeridoo; joined on stage by his brother Narjic and guest DJ’s.  With his group, The Yung Warriors, Burns has played countless gigs including a spot at the 50 Cent concert in Melbourne alongside the Street Warriors. He is an inspiration to Indigenous children and presents workshops, traditional dance and stories in schools. He speaks out strongly about Australia’s limited recognition of its Indigenous peoples. visit website