Author Identifier
Clint Bracknell
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9808-1624
Pierre Horwitz
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8689-7888
Jonathan W. Marshall
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
River Research and Applications
Publisher
Wiley
School
Kurongkurl Katitjin / Centre for People, Place and Planet / Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) / School of Science
RAS ID
36985
Funders
Australian Research Council
Grant Number
ARC Number : IN200100012
Abstract
Performance through language, song and dance provides alternative knowledges and ways of understanding, in this case, developing deeper relationships with living water. Drawing on Indigenous Noongar culture from south-western Australia, this paper addresses the question: How can relationships between living underground, estuarine and riverine water bodies (kayepa dordok) be performed? Two new interlinked Noongar works in response to local riverscapes were developed for, and performed as part of, the 2021 Perth Festival. The first was to embody the return journey of the bullshark, from the salt water to the riverine fresh water; the second was to enact the presence of the unseen groundwater – which emerges as wetlands and estuaries strewn throughout the landscape – on its return to the sea. The method used to derive the song and dance, and the impact of the performance itself, are described. The experiment makes a case for multiple benefits associated with re-establishing connections among culture and nature by drawing on Indigenous perspectives, through performance giving voice to a relationality between river systems and people.
DOI
10.1002/rra.3868
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Bracknell, C., Horwitz, P., Ryan, T., & Marshall, J. W. (2022). Performing kayepa dordok living waters in Noongar boodjar, South‐Western Australia. River Research and Applications, 38(3), 404-411. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3868