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Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program

2023-24 ACDGP grantees

Adelaide City of Music Ltd: 2024 International Indigenous Music Summit

Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands hip hop act and music education activists DEM MOB shared their experience, music, and education vision at the International Indigenous Music Summit (IIMS), Toronto Canada in June 2024. As a direct result, DEM MOB will build on their exposure to secure future international opportunities while pursuing their education development priorities in Australia.

Adelaide City of Music (ACOM) facilitated the opportunity as part of its strong commitment to supporting and promoting South Australian and First Nations music culture internationally. The IIMS represents an important international music industry platform for First Nations artists and music professionals.

Two male singers and a male guitarist perform on an outdoor stage.
DEM MOBperforming at Lincoln Centre in New York, June 2024. Credit: Joe Hay, Adelaide City of Music.

Website: Adelaide UNESCO City Of Music

Project start-end dates:  14 to 24 June 2024

Countries: Canada

ACDGP Grant: $30,525 (ex GST)

AI Remote Pty Ltd: Ngulmiya performances and collaborations in Jakarta, Ubud and Makassar, Indonesia

ACDGP will support Ngulmiya's tour to Jakarta for a concert hall performance with piano and strings, then to Ubud, where they will perform at the Ubud Museum with the Bali Mandala Gamelan. Next Ngulmiya will travel to Makassar, origin of Ngulmiya's family's traditional Dhumbala/Red Flag culture/music/dance to collaborate and perform with Indonesian dancer/artist Abdi Kuraya and local artists. Ngulmiya Nundhirribala's songs and dances, that have developed over hundreds of years in remote Numbulwar, SE Arnhem Land, from the visits by Makassan and Southeast Asian sailors, will be performed back to Indonesians for the first time.

A First Nations male singer sings into a microphone, gesturing emotionally with his hands
Caption: Ngulmiya, Credit: Anthony Gray

Website: Ngulmiya

Project start-end dates:  1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025

Countries: Indonesia

ACDGP Grant: $45,000 (ex GST)

Down Under Film Festival – Europe

The Down Under Film Festival (DUFF) has been presenting Australian films to Berlin audiences since 2011. Hosted annually in the autumn, the festival acts as a platform for Australian films to broaden their international reach as well as a networking opportunity for established and emerging Australian filmmakers in Europe. ACDGP will support the 2024 DUFF in Berlin and its expansion to Denmark, launching its first edition in Copenhagen in October.

A woman smiles while presenting on a stage with her male colleague.
Festival Directors Mala Ghedia and Angus McGruther introducing the opening night film in Berlin, October 2023. Credit: Down Under Film Festival

Website: Down Under Film Festival

Project start-end dates:  24 June to 15 November 2024

Countries: Germany and Denmark

ACDGP Grant: $30,525 (ex GST)

Arts House, City of Melbourne: High Altitude Exchange

The High Altitude Exchange is a collaborative First Nations cultural exchange project between Australia and Nepal. It features two key components; bilateral exchange between hosting organisations, Arts House in Melbourne, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Sydney and Kala Kulo in Kathmandu with Indigenous artists from high mountain regions, and curation of a publication on Indigenous Futurisms.

Website: Arts House

Project start-end dates:  13 June 2024 to 25 December 2025

Countries: Nepal

ACDGP Grant: $30,000 (ex GST)

Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Association Inc: Miromaa Pulii Piriraal – Keeping language strong for cultural survival

This project will support language and cultural exchange through workshops, discussions, and public talks with First Nation Tribal communities in both Canada and the USA.  Activities will focus on language conservation to protect and maintain knowledge and cultural expressions in both traditional and modern contexts.

A First Nations man presents in front of a PowerPoint presentation in a corporate environment.
Daryn McKenny presenting at PULiiMA Indigenous Language and Technology Conference, Darwin. Credit K.Soutar

Website: Miromaa - Aboriginal language and technology center

Project start-end dates: 24 June 2024 to 31 March 2025

Countries: Canada and the United States of America

ACDGP Grant: $45,622 (ex GST)

Marrugeku Inc: Pacific Tour of BURRBGAJA YALIRRA 2

Marrugeku's Triple Bill: BURRBGAJA YALIRRA 2 facilitated new collaborations between artists from northern Australian communities and those of maritime nations of Southeast Asia and Melanesia, with particular focus on New Caledonia and Vanuatu. ACDGP funding will support BURRBGAJA YALIRRA 2 performances and workshops to tour through three Pacific countries.

Two First Nations male dancers perform on a stage.
Stanley Nalo and Ses Bero in Bloodlines as part of Marrugeku’s triple bill Burrbgaja Yalirra 2. Credit: Carlita Sari

Website: Marrugeku – Australia's Leading Indigenous Intercultural Dance Theatre

Project start-end dates:  30 May to 30 November 2024

Countries: Vanuatu and Aotearoa/New Zealand

ACDGP Grant: $45,500 (ex GST)

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Sustaining cross-cultural partnerships and promoting Australian creative excellence in Indonesia

With ACDGP support, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will deliver its annual Youth Music Camp and Arts Management Workshops in Yogyakarta, and an Arts Management Workshop and performance in Jakarta celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia. The visit will culminate in a high-profile public performance with Chief Conductor Jaime Martin, the MSO and Indonesian musicians at Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta.

The MSO will also extend its MOU with the Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, and sign a new agreement with the Yogyakarta Royal Orchestra, cementing the MSO's commitment to strengthening cultural and diplomatic connections and to increasing opportunities to foster practical, bilateral cooperation between Australia and Indonesia through the power of music.

The final phase of the project will see MSO host two Indonesian Interns in Melbourne for a month-long program of professional development.

A small group of musicians take bows after their performance while holding their instruments and bunches of flowers.
The MSO celebrates 75 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Indonesia with the Australian Embassy, Jakarta. Credit: Australian Embassy Jakarta.

Website: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO)

Project start-end dates:  15 June to 31 December 2024

Countries: Indonesia

ACDGP Grant: $60,000 (ex GST)

Phil Walleystack Indigenous Arts Foundation: Kaya Croatia

This project will support five West Australian Noongar artists to participate in a cultural exchange to Zagreb. During their time in Croatia the artists will deliver performances and workshops on contemporary and traditional Noongar culture.

The artists will perform the stage show 'Kaya Croatia' at the Croatian National Theatre. 'Kaya Croatia' (Kaya means hello in Noongar) showcases and celebrates the unique and enduring sounds and landscape of Noongar country and embraces the essence of Noongar storytelling, through music, dance, language and projected visuals.

Website:  Indigenous Arts Foundation

Project start-end dates:  10 June to 31 August 2024

Countries: Croatia

ACDGP Grant: $29,812 (ex GST)

PHOTO Australia: Exhibition of Australian Artist Books at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

This project will support a six-month exhibition of Australian photographic artist books at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum's new Photographic Centre between June and 13 November 2024. The grant will also enable the artists and a curator to take part in public programs at the V&A during the exhibition period.

A large, open plan library with books lining the wall and a large, single pendant light hangs from the centre of an arched ceiling.
Victoria and Albert Photography Centre, Credit: V&A Photography Centre - Photography and the Book - Gallery 98 © Thomas Adank

Website: PHOTO 2024

Project start-end dates: 5 June to 13 November 2024

Countries: United Kingdom

ACDGP Grant: $28,481 (ex GST)

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology: Phantasms for Future Ecologies

Phantasms for Future Ecologies will present digital projection artworks by leading Australian artist Mikala Dwyer in the neighbourhood of Tai Kok Tsui in Hong Kong. This installation is part of a broader urban renewal project led by Hong Kong Art Centre in Tai Kok Tsui, which considers how public art can connect community, place, heritage and inspire ideas about sustainable living. The project also involves researchers Associate Professor Kristen Sharp and Dr Tammy Wong Hulbert, School of Art, RMIT University.

A digital animated pink and orange male seahorse giving birth in a dark ocean.
A Seahorse, 2022-23. Digital Animation video still. Artist: Mikala Dwyer (with Gina Moore). Detail, Penelope and the Seahorse, Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney. Credit: Mikala Dwyer.

Websites:

RMIT

Other

MIKALA DWYER

Project start-end dates:  3 June 2024 to 30 November 2025

Countries: Hong Kong

ACDGP Grant: $36,350 (ex GST

Short Black Opera Pty Ltd: First Nations Woven Song Exchange

With support from the ACDGP, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO and Short Black Opera will create two new works in First Nations languages for the Woven Song series. This will be followed by performances of the series in Copenhagen, Rome and the Holy See, and workshops on First Nations Culture and language with the Sami Language school in Oslo.

A First Nations woman wearing a red jacket, and a red scarf stands in front of a vibrant First Nations tapestry.
Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO in front of artwork Dulka Warngiid, woven at the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Credit: Wayne Quilliam

Websites:

Project start-end dates:  1 August 2024 to 1 December 2025

Countries: Denmark, Italy, Holy See and Norway

ACDGP Grant: $60,000 (ex GST)

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