Garma cultural festival

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The Garma Culture Festival , in English Garma Festival of Traditional Culture or Garma Festival for short and called Matha Garma'wu Buku luŋgthurra by the Yolngu in their language , is an event over a period of five days organized by the Yothu Yindi Foundation . The non-profit organization was founded by the Aboriginal rock band Yothu Yindi to preserve the culture and tradition of the Yolngu. The cultural festival has received several awards.

The festival has been held annually since 1999 in early August in a square called Gulkula. The festival course in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory in Australia is located in a forest of Eucalyptus tetrodonta with a view of the Carpentaria Golf . It is located on the Gove Peninsula , 40 kilometers from the mining town of Nhulunbuy and 14 kilometers southeast of Gove Airfield . In the Yolngu's imaginations, the creation Ganbulabula is said to have created the didgeridoo from the dreamtime and handed it over to the Gumatj clan on this square .

The festival is mainly a cultural festival of the Aborigines of the Yolngu on which ceremonies ( wangga ), singing ( manikay ) and dance ( bunggul ) are performed. But there are also works of art of the Aborigines presented or created. In 2006, for example, the painter Gulumbu Yunupingu painted pictures in a workshop there. The festival also aims to develop the cultural and economic revitalization of the remote area and to enable foreign visitors to experience the indigenous culture.

The Yolngu came into contact with British colonization relatively late in the mid-1930s and were therefore able to maintain and cultivate their traditions. When they were not consulted prior to the construction of the Gove bauxite mine in the 1960s , they campaigned for their land rights. The 2013 festival is specifically dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the presentation of the Yolngu Bark petition in the Australian Parliament.

The petition at the time was the first written expression of the land rights movement of the indigenous population of Australia. It was bilingual and was presented in 1963. It was rejected and the Yolngu subsequently lost in court. However, the mine operator voluntarily paid compensation to the Yolngu and assured the protection of their historically important places. In the early years of the Garma cultural festival, it was more politically oriented. The organizer of the festival, the eminent Elder Galarrwuy Yunupingu , called for a greater and contractually guaranteed share in the proceeds of the bauxite mine on their traditional land. Otherwise, he announced, the Yolngu will build their own mine. He had achieved his goal when, in May 2011, an agreement between the Rirratjingu, Gumatj and Galpu Traditional Owners , Northern Land Council and mine operator Rio Tinto Alcan was concluded for a further 42 years of mine operation until 2053.

At the 2013 festival, political perspectives and cultural activities of the regional Aborigines will be discussed. The elderly from eastern Arnhem Land come together to discuss their common path into the future.

The number of visitors increased steadily. In the last few years up to 3000 participants have been counted. While in the early years only invited guests and scientists were allowed to come to the festival, you can now register for a fee.

The remote area can be reached by airplanes that take off from Cairns or from Darwin in four-wheel drive vehicles via the Stuart Highway and the roughly 700 kilometers long unpaved Bulman Track to Nhulunbuy . The track can only be used with permission.

Awards

The Garma Cultural Festival was awarded the Brolga Award by the Government of the Northern Territory in 2004 and 2005 and won the Skal International Ecotourism Award in 2005 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b culturaldevelopment.net.au (PDF; 1.3 MB): Kim Dunphy: Development and Revitalizing Rural Communities Trough Arts and Creativy , Canada 2009, p. 23, in English, accessed on June 25, 2013
  2. dw.de (Deutsche Welle) : Australia's Yolngu People: Celebrating 40,000 Years, December 18, 2002, in English, accessed June 24, 2013
  3. yyf.com ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 367 kB): 2013 Garma Festival (press release of the Yothu Yindi Foundation), in English, accessed on June 24, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yyf.com.au
  4. abc.net.au : The Karma of Garma , August 15, 2005, in English, accessed June 25, 2013
  5. riotintoalcan.com (PDF; 513 kB): Gove , in English, accessed on April 14, 2012
  6. yyf.com.au ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.5 MB): The Garma Institute , in English, accessed on June 24, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yyf.com.au
  7. spiegel.de : Ulrike Putz: The earth is her heaven , from January 2, 2006, accessed on June 24, 2013
  8. yyf.com.au : 2013 Garma Festival , in English, accessed June 24, 2013
  9. culturaldevelopment.net.au (PDF; 1.3 MB): Kim Dunphy: Development and Revitalizing Rural Communities Trough Arts and Creativy , Canada 2009, p. 24, in English, accessed on June 25, 2013
  10. garma.com  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 369 kB): Garma 2013 , in English, accessed on June 24, 2013@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / garma.com.au  
  11. pigswillfly.de : Arnhem Land's Garma Festival wins international ecotourism award , November 2005, in English, accessed on June 24, 2013