3 March – 16 July 2017
Report for Donors
3 March – 16 July 2017
Thank you from the Director, Brian Oldman My sincere thanks to everyone who helped the South Australian Museum to present Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia. To Djalu Gurruwiwi and his family and to the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory: the traditional owners of the yidaki, we thank you for sharing your knowledge and helping us to breathe life and music back into these sacred instruments. Thanks to William Barton, whose evocative combination of the sound of the yidaki with classical music, gave us such memorable and thrilling performances alongside the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Australian String Quartet.
Kevin Dhurrkay and Larry, Djalu, Dhopiya and Zelda Gurruwiwi
To our generous Yidaki Leadership Council, Sponsors and Partners, without your invaluable contribution we could not have presented this ground-breaking exhibition. And, to Professor John Carty, the Museum’s Head of Anthropology, congratulations on your first collaborative exhibition at the South Australian Museum, and for the valuable work you are doing to explore ways of bringing Aboriginal voices and values further into the mainstream narratives of Australian history. I give my thanks, on behalf of the Museum staff, visitors, Board and Foundation – I am most grateful to you for helping to focus attention on such a powerful and iconic emblem of Australia.
Jack Thompson, Djalu Gurruwiwi and John Carty
A message from Professor John Carty
Head of Anthropology, South Australian Museum, Professor of Anthropology, The University of Adelaide, and Exhibition Curator Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia is a watershed in the history of the South Australian Museum. This has provided the South Australian Museum with the opportunity to present an exhibition and associated program around the music, rhythm and song of yidaki. This exhibition takes audiences deep into the cultural and musical heartland of the instrument – Arnhem Land, northern Australia – to learn from the makers and masters of yidaki, the Yolngu. Working in close collaboration with the Yolngu, this groundbreaking exhibition highlighted the culture of Aboriginal Australia and showcased the world’s finest and most extensive collection of historic yidaki and other didjeridus.
Immersive and elegantly-designed, the exhibition told the story of the origins of yidaki and illustrated the importance of the instrument in Aboriginal life and culture. For Yolngu, yidaki are not just musical instruments, they are social instruments, instruments of healing, and of spiritual life. The Yolngu Elder, Djalu Gurruwiwi, invited exhibition visitors on an experiential journey that included exploring a stringybark forest, voyaging with the West Wind and becoming engaged in the mesmerising power of yidaki sound.
The exhibition told the story from the creation of the instrument and its diversity of forms, through to its role in ceremony, healing, diplomacy and everyday life. Including 30 key objects in a stunning stringybark forest setting, the exhibition was brought to life by multiple audiovisual experiences that illuminated the cultural, ecological and musical world of the Yolngu people. The resolution of these themes was in the final immersive audiovisual piece, in which Djalu Gurruwiwi spoke to the visitor directly, sharing the meaning, power and cultural significance of yidaki. With this exhibition, for the first time, we overturned and expanded conventional ideas of what a museum exhibition can be. The traditional display framework was removed, replaced by Yolngu voices guiding people through their system of meaning, on their terms. Yidaki is revealed as an innovative part of contemporary culture, born of the ongoing power of living Aboriginal knowledge and people. This dynamic engagement with Yolngu culture was at the heart of the exhibition’s success as a dynamic part of Adelaide’s culture as well. The Yidaki exhibition coincided with the 2017 Adelaide Festival, and the associated program inspired cultural experiences across South Australia in partnership with a range of organisations. Concert events were staged featuring yidaki virtuoso William Barton and both the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Australian String Quartet. A Festival Opening Night concert on the Museum lawns supported by The University of Adelaide attracted a staggering 3000 participants, with music from Djalu Gurruwiwi, the Barra Band and appearances by players in the AFL’s Port Adelaide Football Club. The Yolngu also dominated the family experience at WOMADelaide 2017, where the Museum presented workshops, craft and performances in the Kidzone.
I said that Yidaki was a watershed in the history of the Museum. It was that. In bringing our collections to life, and in repositioning the Museum as a pioneering cultural institution. It was a turning point, but it was also a coming home. This is what Museums are for: as archives of extraordinary traditions. This is what the South Australian Museum’s Aboriginal collections can do. And will do. They can place the Museum into the heart of Adelaide’s cultural life like no other collection in the State. More than that, they can place the Museum at the heart of the nation’s narrative.
Dhopiya Gurruwiwi paints the design of Witij (rainbow serpent) on the finished yidaki.
Thank you I extend my sincere thanks for the generous support of the Yidaki Leadership Council and to our many Partners in enabling the successful presentation of the Yidaki exhibition. In this exhilarating time for our much-loved Museum, I am thrilled that so many of you chose to support this significant project. Your support is fundamental to the efforts of the Museum, and affects all that we do, from our oldest to our youngest visitors. Mary Sutherland, Chairman, South Australian Museum Foundation
Yidaki Leadership Council Hon Diana Laidlaw AM
for the new collection of yidaki acquired for the exhibition
Joan Lyons McGovern and Hender Family Pam and David McKee AO Diana McLaurin Trish and Richard Ryan AO Mary and Peter Sutherland OAM Macquarie Foundation
Thank you Presenting Partner
Exhibition Partners
WORDS FROM THE OFFICIAL OPENING Mr Jack Thompson AM
The reality of Djalu Gurruwiwi brings together this most ancient continuum of culture on the planet. Together with others who have arrived here more recently, and reminds us that history has had us inherit this extraordinary cultural gift. This civilisation long before our own, when those extraordinary cave paintings in Lascaux were new, these people, this cultural tradition, had been here for at least 25,000 years beforehand. We embrace that in this exhibition. We remind ourselves of this extraordinary civilisation that we are a part of. This is the sound of Australia – this is the sound of who we are. I met Djalu at the Garma Festival in North East Arnhem Land – I am an ambassador for the Festival, I was invited there by the late Dr Yunupingu, who had first introduced the Yidaki to the world through rock ‘n’ roll – the great Treaty Yeah!
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I first met this man in Los Angeles. I was there working and here he was entertaining people with his extraordinary band and the sound of the ancient instrument, together with our own. I then invited there, met Djalu, and this Master, this man who keeps the Dreaming of the Yidaki, at a Master Class. And people were arriving from around the World. Japanese people, German people, people from Europe, and our fellow Australians, sitting at his feet, learning the techniques that had been passed onto him by a continual cultural stream of Masters that stretched back into the distant past.
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This is not about the culture, then. This is not about the collection of dry artefacts. This is about what lies at the heart of all cultural life: our European and the Indigenous. It is art. It is music. It is an expression of something that is not there simply in language or in print.
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This is the language. This is there in the thrill of the Yidaki. Our instrument, our sound, that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Hardwired somewhere in here [pointing to his body], is the recognition that this is language that we share. It gives me great delight to open this exhibition.
Museum Director, Brian Oldman, with Jack Thompson
Yolngu dancers performing at the OďŹƒcial Opening
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MEDIA INTEREST Media coverage of Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia was the most high profile, varied and visible of any exhibition previously staged at the Museum. It saw hundreds of articles across a range of television, radio, print and online media, sustained over the five month opening period – from mass media, specialist media, stories about arts and culture, indigenous, technical and family interest. The Friday Essay in The Conversation on 7 April 2017 by Christine Nicholls, Senior Lecturer in Australian Studies at Flinders University, was a good example and a fine analysis of the various components of the exhibition, including these extracts:
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“ The South Australian Museum’s pathbreaking Yidaki exhibition literally breathes new life into this instrument by positioning the yidaki in its legitimate context. Curated by the Museum’s Head of Anthropology, John Carty, Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia amplifies the instrument’s multiple meanings and overall significance by foregrounding its human, societal and environmental framework.
Yidaki’s opening night was like no other at the Museum. Yolngu expertise was unambiguously placed centre stage, with the Yolngu people positioned as the legitimate knowledge bearers.
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These Yolngu yidaki players, performers and specialists, led by the grand old man Djalu Gurruwiwi, yidaki master craftsman and sage, co-owner of the West Wind cycle, played the instrument, sang and danced, a never-to-be forgotten ushering-in of the exhibition.
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The exhibition Yidaki is a triumph. … the exhibits comprise large screens with Yolngu custodians speaking authoritatively about the broader context. Familial clusters of yidaki are on display. Yidaki music permeates the galleries, letting
visitors experience, at a visceral level, the interconnectedness of the yidaki with all other aspects of Yolngu living. A video on a gigantic screen shows a megastorm approaching coastal Yolngu country, at first slowly, ominously making its way towards the viewer, culminating in a crescendo of yidaki accompaniment. This makes for an intense corporeal experience, resulting from the yidaki soundscape, the deep rumblings of thunder, the flashing pyrotechnics of the lightning and the vibrations that pulsate through one’s body.
‘In this, the first major exhibition bearing his stamp, the SA Museum’s relatively new Head of Anthropology, John Carty, announces his presence as a dazzling iconoclast. Professor Carty’s curatorial approach amplifies the instrument’s multiple meanings and overall significance by foregrounding the human, societal and environmental matrix in which the yidaki is embedded. Yidaki … thus fosters knowledge about this unique instrument that almost everyone has heard of, but knows little about.’ Christine Nicholls, Flinders University, InDaily, 19 April 2017
One cluster displays several yidaki in various stages of construction, from the early, immediately post-termite colonisation phase to one beautifully adorned, finished example. A large sign in bold letters next to this installation tells viewers to ‘PLEASE TOUCH’. This came as a pleasurable shock, partly because I had been tempted to do just that, but had expected the sign to deliver a contrary message.
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Yolngu culture and language are still living, although in these times of increasing assimilatory pressure their long-term continuation lies precariously in the balance. Like other Aboriginal cultures and languages, it’s just hanging on. Now is the time for museums to change direction by strongly supporting living cultures, as the museum is doing with Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia. There are signs throughout Australia that things are changing on this front, but mostly they’re not happening quickly enough. The approach taken to Yidaki … marks an historical departure and potentially a new era for the South Australian Museum. It’s hoped that this can be sustained. Yidaki … continues into mid-July 2017. Go and see. It’s a wild and thrilling ride.”
‘My name is Djalu Gurruwiwi. I am going to tell you stories. I’m going to help you all because you and I are citizens, brothers and sisters. Yes. I am welcoming you all. Non Indigenous. Indigenous… So you all can see what I have to teach you. For you and for me.’
‘The songline is really important. And language is essential and the culture that runs through it is extremely important too. And when all races come together, that is important. We stay alert and help. It’s good to be helping each other, one another, in there… with these instruments. For you and for me.’
‘Non-Indigenous people want to learn about this instrument. That yidaki is ancient and sacred. It represents the sacred ground, everything sacred remains there. The tradition that I’m teaching you. I’m not hiding it. That family tree that I’m sharing with you. The clapsticks and yidaki stay together as one. Clever Indigenous people, clever non-Indigenous people.’ Djalu Gurruwiwi
Moved beyond belief. Thank you. SA Powerful connections/spirituality. Kenya A national treasure of an exhibition. Denmark Important, educational, moving; every student in Australia should see this. VIC Thankyou. A gift to learn about the First People’s music, love, stories. Brisbane, QLD Profound stories so beautifully told and shared. Sydney, NSW Beautiful. My 4yo son was mesmerised. SA Great place to learn about Indigenous people. Korea Thank you. 2 hours in one exhibition – testimony to the amazing stories shared here. Well done... NT Comments from Yidaki visitors
Breathing life into our collection
Alice Beale, Senior Collection Manager, Anthropology Tom Pyrzakowski, Design Officer From the very beginning – when Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia was in its initial planning phase – one of the grand ideas was to play instruments from the collection. After all, how do you put on an exhibition about a musical instrument if you don’t know what it sounds like? The South Australian Museum holds more than 350 musical instruments in its Australian Aboriginal Cultures collection. Of these, about 120 are didjeridus. These instruments are primarily from Arnhem Land, but the Museum also has examples from Queensland, Central Australia and Western Australia. A number of them are more than 100 years old. All of them have lain dormant since they entered the collections.
For obvious reasons, there was no way we could put a priceless piece of culture in the Torrens. So, we needed to develop a safer way to reintroduce moisture into our instruments.
While other museums had previous experience playing the musical instruments in their collections, this was the first time the South Australian Museum had undertaken a project that presented such avoidable risk to the collection. It would have been very easy to say that it was too dangerous and not do anything, but instead we focused on how to reduce the risk as much as possible. We were able to breathe new life and music back into some of these beautiful instruments, and to hear them speak with their own voice. The Yolngu way to tune-up yidaki is to stick it in the river for a few days. Djalu Gurruwiwi explained to us that for a yidaki to sound right, it needs to be hydrated. To do this, Yolngu would place a yidaki in a river for maybe one to three weeks, re-energising the instrument to be played again.
Consistent humidity is essential for safe storage
Organic objects are susceptible to rapid and extreme changes in environment. In order to ensure the long term preservation of our organic collections, the South Australian Museum maintains its stores and galleries between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius and 45 to 55 per cent relative humidity and avoids, where possible, extreme changes in temperature and relative humidity in a 24 hour period. Hazards associated with extreme changes in the environment can result in organic materials warping, cracking, paint loss or discolouration. All organic objects are susceptible to mould growth in a damp, still environment. With no previous project to model ours on, we forged ahead combining Yolngu practice and advice with humidification techniques used by conservators at Artlab Australia on other objects, mostly as a way of removing creases and making fibrous objects more pliable and easy to work with. We selected seven instruments, the oldest acquired by the museum in 1922 and the most recent in 2007. Then we constructed a purpose-built humidifier – fondly known as The Crib. Over four weeks we – very, very slowly – re-humidified these instruments, monitoring and recording twice daily. In 2016, Djalu Gurruwiwi and his family came to play the instruments we had humidified. It was a once in a lifetime experience, to hear those didjeridus come to life once again. At the end of the process – other than some small cracks and a new vibrancy to some of the ochres – there was no damage that required invasive conservation work. We got to watch Djalu Gurruwiwi’s eleven-year-old grandson Kevin Dhurrkay – the future of a powerful tradition – play the instruments that have remained unheard for more than a century. And every visitor to Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia got to hear them too.
Tom Pyrzakowski monitoring yidaki in ‘The Crib’
Pesticide testing Another concern was the South Australian Museum’s previous use of pesticides. All museums are faced with the challenge of preventing common museum insects from damaging their collection. Previous practice has been to use harmful chemicals in order to prevent insect infestations. Such treatments were only broadly documented, so Museum staff consider all objects as potentially harmful unless proven otherwise. Risk from handling is manageable, but playing the yidaki represented a larger health risk. In conjunction with Flinders University and Artlab Australia, we tested for the presence of harmful chemicals and found that chemicals like bromine, mercury and arsenic were present, requiring the Museum to take precautions through the use of personal protective equipment for the musicians.
Creating and designing the exhibition Brett Chandler, Exhibition Designer
Key to discovering the secret in planning the design of the exhibition was travelling to Arnhem Land and meeting Djalu and the Gurruwiwi family who were so generous in welcoming us into their lives and taking us on a true collaborative journey. Djalu changed our understanding of the instrument, the place it comes from, how it is made, its significance to Yolngu and in the process changed us. Central to the Yolngu story and Yidaki is the stringybark forest – it is the beginning and the end of life’s journey. On return from this experience in Arnhem Land, the design of the space became clear: it needed to represent the Yolngu world of the sea, storms, animals and particularly the stringybark forest. Within the exhibition space, all the walls were removed to create a space with a forest at its centre, with the yidaki from the collection displayed within the trees. The Yolngu are intimately connected to their culture and land and also the world, through exhibitions, travelling, and performing. The exhibition needed to be able to show both sides of this story. To do this we created modules within the space that took the visitor on a journey from the forest, into the community and then an outdoor cinema showing performances throughout Australia and the world. The exhibition design was intended to be immersive with a feeling like being on the stage of a theatre production. Sound, lighting and video projection mixed in an ever-changing sequence centred around the West Wind songline of Djalu. Over a period of 20 minutes, the space is transformed from a sunny day into a lightning storm where the West Wind is played at full
volume. In between the storm, visitors could hear the sound of the yidaki from the collection within the trees, activated by sensors as they stood and viewed them. The story was told through sound and vision from the Yolngu people rather than through text, so each area was set up as a meeting place with seating. Each visitor was given a gallery guide that provided a curatorial overview, information about the modules and some background about Djalu and Yolngu. It was inspiring to collaborate with the people in Arnhem Land and the Museum team to create a very unique museum experience.
Our Public Programs
Katrina Nitschke, Head of Public Engagement The public programs associated with the exhibition were the most complex and engaging ever mounted by the Museum, with staff working with a range of partners to present the full cultural story of the yidaki in rich ways, keeping Yolngu at the heart of the program.
celebrating NAIDOC Week. Kaurna language workshops were held with Taylor Power and kids’ tours focused on language, playing and learning in our collections.
The program commenced with an Adelaide Festival Opening Night event bringing more than 3000 people to the lawns of the Museum for a concert featuring Djalu Gurruwiwi and family, local musicians and the Barra Band, who provided an inspiring and emotional launch of both the Festival and the Yidaki exhibition. The Festival season also included a family-focused presence of Museum staff with the Yolngu at WOMADelaide. Yidaki virtuoso and classically trained Indigenous musician, William Barton, joined forces with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to showcase the haunting and spiritual beauty of yidaki music to enraptured audiences at the Adelaide Town Hall and with the Australian String Quartet within the Museum’s Pacific Cultures Gallery, where an evening concert and a morning concert for families presented a unique cultural experience. For those who wanted to learn more, the program included several lunch time talks: Ancient Australia: a talk with Giles Hamm and Cliff Coulthard; a discussion of the role of termites in the making of yidaki in the Northern Territory; and a talk from Museum collection and design staff on the challenging conservation approach required to bring to life the yidaki in the Museum’s collection. The exhibition also proved popular with schools, with 1,403 school students visiting the exhibition in school groups, which is the most ever recorded for a South Australian Museum exhibition. Many others came with their families or friends or as part of the July 2017 School holiday program
For families, the Museum presented two full school holiday programs during the exhibition period, which included a range of hands-on activities for children and families. Several Young Explorers programs for 3–5 year olds were run during the exhibition, with very positive feedback. Introduced in the April school holidays, and extended for the life of the exhibition, was a drop-in programming room in the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, which featured a range of books and activities, and encouraged families to linger and enjoy the Arnhem Land experience. The Museum also hosted the DreamBIG Festival, featuring Yolngu concepts of democracy, and Power Community Cup day events, along with other Port Power programs. The Museum also hosted, to great interest, an ethnomusicology class with advanced students from The University of Adelaide’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music while the Yolngu were in Adelaide for the launch of the exhibition.
Yidaki virtuoso, William Barton, combined his knowledge of yidaki with his classical music training to produce some amazing concerts that showcased the depth and splendour of the sound of the yidaki.