From the remote community of Roebourne in the West Australian Pilbara to Australia’s most prestigious stage, the Sydney Opera House, comes Punkaliyarra, an immersive experience where First Nations elders, aunties and emerging leaders share stories of resilience, hope, strength and the change-making power of Aboriginal matriarchal leadership, in the lead-up to International Women’s Day
“As a little girl growing up in Roebourne, I never thought I would be at the Sydney Opera House.”
They are the words of Yindjibarndi emerging Elder Michelle Adams, also the co-creator and one of the lead storytellers on Punkaliyarra which Big hART will debut at the Sydney Opera House as part of the All About Women festival.
In fact, Michelle has already achieved many milestones that, though they might not have the prominence of the Sydney Opera House, have created significant and meaningful change among the 975-strong community of WA’s Roebourne and beyond.
It was Michelle who approached arts and social impact organisation Big hART about working with multiple generations of Pilbara women to share with them the power of storytelling and the ability of art to change lives.
Big hART, Michelle and other senior women and Elders began working together in Roebourne from 2010 on various projects including NEOMAD, the multi-award-winning interactive comic that exposed the local community to the potential of combining digital technology with ancient culture to create change.
“It opened the door for people to see themselves becoming the storyteller, educating people about who you are, where you come from, just by using stories, told with respect: ‘This is who I am, welcome to my world’.”
Yindjibarndi emerging elder Michelle Adams, co-creator of Punkaliyarra, says the passion, love, and care shown for the community through its realisation has been profound (Photo Tamali Smith).
In Roebourne, Michelle acknowledges that world also contained a divided society as a result of some devastating history, including the death in custody of young Yindjibarndi man John Pat in 1983, a key catalyst for the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody.
Songs for Peace was created in response, also in collaboration with Big hART, responding to and healing the decades of community conflict and reputational damage. Multiple music and songwriting workshops in the community and prison resulted in various nation-wide public outdoor concerts hosted by local young people and Elders and featuring respected local artists.
A designer and experienced community and cultural development practitioner with Big hART, Genevieve Dugard, says Songs for Peace reflects the organisation’s ethos.
“One of Big hART’s biggest focuses is on the invisible issues, so we do that harder work in stories that aren’t being told and with communities that don’t have platforms,” she says.
Young people, local artists and musicians perform at the Songs for Peace concert in 2024 in Roebourne (Photo: Courtesy of Big hART).
Alberts, through The Tony Foundation, has been a proud partner of Big hART since 2020, helping share these urgent stories.
“One of the reasons we partnered with Big hART is because of the respectful way they go into First Nations communities like Roebourne and listen. They understand some projects need time, so quietly provide the support to give those communities agency, enabling them to achieve positive outcomes through music, art and the sharing of knowledge,” says Ingrid Albert, director of The Tony Foundation.
Punkaliyarra, too, celebrates the oft-overlooked strength and power of Aboriginal matriarchal leadership. An immersive, inclusive production co-created with three generations of women it features a cast of five aged 16-55 who share stories, song, film, animation, music and movement calling for the restoration of First Nations women leadership. Developed during Covid on country in the Pilbara, this long-term project has grown and adapted and is now in its fourth outing. Produced by Big hART, Punkaliyarra is being presented as part of the Sydney Opera House’s International Women’s Day celebrations, All About Women.
Sam Walker (right) on stage with Punkiliyarra during the 2024 Giiyong Festival. (Photo: David Rodgers Photography).
The impact is wide-ranging.
Creating the work has given the community a sense of purpose and focus. “It is diversionary if you want to put it in that sense .. over the years we’ve been running activities we’ve had so much positive feedback from local police. Youth crime goes down, this is a power model that can help shift [crime], preventing jail, giving voices back, teaching skills and awareness of self. You become an outward-looking, forward-looking woman,” Michelle says, adding the passion, love and care shown for community through the realisation of Punkaliyarra has been profound.
Community leader, performer and Ngarluma woman Sam Walker, whose three sons have also collaborated on Big hART productions and continue to perform as artists today, says Punkaliyarra is clearly making ‘small mustard seed changes’.
Young women from Roebourne in the Pilbara WA during an on-country storytelling art workshop for Punkiliyarra. (Photo: Courtesy of Big hART).
“Personally, it’s a pleasure to be sharing my culture with the non-Indigenous aunties, sisters, all women, it breaks down the barriers of understanding to be sharing the positives in life, because all we see is the negatives.
We are the oldest living mob in this beautiful country of ours, Australia, all we want to do is share and include and be included. A project like Punkaliyarra has opened so many doors to understanding. Michelle is our matriarch, an amazing strong woman who has got Punkaliyarra to where it is, and with Genevieve. Those two are dynamite together.”
(Feature image: David Rodgers Photography).
