WOMAD

Three Anangu Stories

From Australia

Anangu, and other Aboriginal cultures, relate to the arts very differently to Western people, presenting a holistic view, where storytelling, song, dance and visual representation are inseparable from each other and also tied to the spiritual element that encompasses what has gone before, from ancestors; the present time and why things are as they are; and what is in store for the future. The Three Anangu Stories project will incorporate six days of workshops before WOMADelaide 09 for selected musicians, singers, dancers, choreographers, archivists, anthropologists, painters, writers, film makers, photographers, historians and sound engineers - to capture important traditional stories in performance and recorded form, as if they were being told to a family group. At the festival on the Friday night, artists will start two large collaborative paintings, to be completed on the Saturday and Sunday; others will work on their own paintings focusing on the same stories. Twice each day, the dances of the three stories will be performed, and taught to the festival audience. Accompanying paintings, rugs, landmarks, star constellation photos, tools and sacred objects that relate to the three stories will also be exhibited. Anangu artists will paint designs for the stories on T-shirts, and a range of artworks will be for sale. Three Anangu Stories is presented by the WOMADelaide Foundation in association with Better World Arts in Port Adelaide.