What a journey. In September, Wanim travelled more than 1,000 kilometres across the Kimberley, from Kununurra to Broome, with a touring party of artists and crew, performances in six communities, a full schools program, and collaborations with artists and cultural leaders along the way.
At the centre of it all was the Wanim Ensemble; five artists from different generations, places and musical traditions: award-winning Yawuru singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Pigram; Fitzroy Valley singer-songwriter and guitarist Bart Marr, part of a new generation carrying Kimberley music forward; cellist, double bassist and vocalist Mary Rapp; leading jazz guitarist and improviser Carl Dewhurst; and jazz-trained drummer and percussionist Talya Valenti.
In Australian Kriol, wanim means “what” or “what’s happening”. That sense of curiosity was built into the project from the beginning. Rather than presenting a fixed production in each location, Wanim evolved as it travelled. Local artists and cultural leaders joined the musicians, young people took part through the schools program, and each performance was shaped by the place and community in which it happened.
The tour began in Kununurra with final development and a small lesson in the realities of regional touring. The freight hadn’t arrived. Luckily, one generous person in the region had almost everything we needed. Less luckily, they were a while way away. After a considerable drive to collect a vanload of amps and gear, rehearsals could begin. All part of touring the Kimberley.
There was also time to get out on Country, with a trip to a local waterhole and some croc spotting. Stephen, Mary, Carl and Talya spent a day at East Kimberley College, performing and making music with students from pre-primary through to senior school, before Wanim’s first community performance at Waringarri Aboriginal Arts. Wangga by Waringarri Performers opened the evening before Stephen, Bart, Mary, Carl and Talya took the stage.
In Warmun, Wanim performed on the Joonba Ground at Warmun Art Centre. Andrew “Pelican” Daylight, a Gija dancer and long-time Tura collaborator who was previously part of The Journey Down, led the Joonba, accompanied by Gija dancers carrying boards painted by leading artist Rover Thomas on their shoulders.
Painted boards have a long history within Gija cultural and artistic practice, where they are carried by dancers to illustrate the stories being performed. The Joonba brought song, dance, painting and story together on the grounds of Warmun Art Centre, alongside the music of the Wanim musicians.
From Warmun, the tour continued to Halls Creek, where hundreds gathered at Pioneer Park, with young people filling the space around the stage. It was something we saw throughout the tour. These were community evenings as much as performances, with food shared and children and young people often among the most enthusiastic audience members.
In Wangkatjungka, Walmajarri Elder and acclaimed singer-songwriter Olive “Kankawa Nagarra” Knight joined the Wanim musicians, bringing her songs and distinctive blues sound to the performance.
The journey west then brought Wanim to Fitzroy Crossing and onto Bart Marr’s home Country. Away from the performance schedule, Bart took members of the Tura team to his home at Moongardie. His song ‘Moongardie’ had been heard throughout the tour; visiting the place gave the touring artists and team a deeper understanding of the Country, family and experience behind his songwriting.
That night, hundreds gathered at the Mindi Rardi Cultural Festival Grounds for one of the largest events of the tour. Presented with the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre, Nindilingarri Cultural Health Services, Marra Worra Worra and Gurama Yani U, the evening brought together Kurtal and Walmajarri singers and dancers, young people and artists from Tura’s Sound FX program, and the Wanim musicians. The crowd also shared killa, freshly killed cow, as part of the evening.
For Bart, it was a hometown performance. When he played his newly released single ‘Hey Lady’, kids gathered in front of the stage, singing and dancing until clouds of red dust rose around them. Looking out from the stage, Stephen joked there was no need for a smoke machine.
The journey finished in Broome with an expanded line-up including other long term Tura collaborators Miriwoong Songman Chris Griffiths; Broome didjeridoo player Paul Boon; Stephen’s grandson, Yawuru musician Chase Pigram; and Fitzroy Crossing singer and Sound FX Trainee Faith Atwell, alongside Tura’s Tristen Parr on cello and Tos Mahoney on flute. A new group commissioned work, ‘Wanim’, was premiered that night, before everyone came together for Stephen Pigram’s iconic ‘Raindancing’, closing the tour to a standing ovation.
Running alongside the community performances was Wanim’s schools program, with Stephen, Mary, Carl and Talya visiting schools across the tour route. Young people met the musicians, heard their instruments up close and took part in music-making through songs, rhythm and improvisation.
Thank you to Wanim Ensemble artists Stephen Pigram, Bart Marr, Mary Rapp, Carl Dewhurst and Talya Valenti, our tour team, and every local collaborator, guest artist, cultural leader, young person and community member who joined us along the way.
We also thank our community partners Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Warmun Art Centre, Shire of Halls Creek, Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre, Marra Worra Worra, Nindilingarri Cultural Health Services, Gurama Yani U and the Shire of Broome.
The Wanim Tour was supported by the Western Australian Government through the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport’s Playing WA program and by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
