NAIDOC After Dark

Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous

UNSW NAIDOC After Dark

7 – 14 July 2019

5pm – 10pm

Free for everyone

 

The NAIDOC Theme for 2019 is: Voice. Treaty. Truth. Let’s work together for a shared future.

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. NAIDOC’s history is steeped in the Aboriginal struggle and Aboriginal activism. The week’s origins can be traced to the 1938 Day of Mourning. The Day of Mourning on 26 January 1938 involved a group of Aboriginal men and women gathered at Australia Hall in Sydney to mourn the 150th anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet in Australia.

In 2019, NAIDOC Week has evolved to also focus on celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, but we must never forget its activist roots. It is deeply rooted in the struggle for the recognition of Aboriginal rights.

As we celebrate the theme ‘Voice. Treaty. Truth.’ we must remember these three words are structural reform proposals contained in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Uluru Statement From the Heart is a political document that calls for a constitutionally enshrined Voice to the Parliament as a first step toward reconciliation. UNSW Law was proudly involved in the work of the Referendum Council’s dialogues and the national constitutional convention at Uluru in 2017.

Lighting up University Mall this week
As part of NAIDOC celebrations this year, the Office of the PVC Indigenous has engaged lighting companies to light up University Mall from Anzac Parade to the Scientia Building, including Nura Gili at the Electrical Engineering building.

The aim of the celebrations is to highlight the commitments outlined in the UNSW Indigenous Strategy which is to raise awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff on campus. By organising events that showcase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, culture, music and others, it is hoped the UNSW community will have a better understanding of the First Peoples’ of this country and that the Kensington Campus is located on the lands of the Bedegal peoples.

Please take a walk down University Mall one evening this week.

Listen to some music from a playlist that includes the following Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talent:

Archie Roach, Down City Streets, Took the Children Away, Beautiful Child, Walking into Doors, Jamu Dreaming

Baker Boy, Cloud 9, Mr La Di Da Di

Briggs, Bad Apples

Coloured Stone, Dancing in the Moonlight

Gurrumul, Wiyathul, I was Born Blind, Bapa, Galiku

Joe Geia, Uncle Willie

Letterstick Band, Blythe River

Mixed relations, Aboriginal Woman

No Fixed Address, We have Survived, Blackman’s Right

Poor Boys, Yirraru Jarrijalparlu

Pilgram Brothers, Going Back Home

Pukatja Band, Ngrra Parai

Sunrise Band, Land Rights

Teenage Band, Where’s My People

Warumpi Band, Marrayilyil, Blackfellow Whitefella, My Island Home, Waru (Fire), Koori Man, We Shall Cry (for our land), Holding you in my Arms

Yothu Yindi, Treaty, Djapana, My Kind of Life, Yirrmala, Yolgnu Woman, Living in the Mainstream

 

The playlist is available on Spotify.

Happy NAIDOC week!

Professor Megan Davis

Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous