Tura Annual Program Report 2023

Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool as part of The Journey Down on the Joonba Grounds, Gija Country, Warmun. Photo by Edify Media.

Tura acknowledges the Traditional Owners of this Country. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and we say thank you. We have the privilege and pleasure of working with many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and language groups and value the opportunity to learn from and with them.

In 2023 over 10,000 people engaged with Tura’s live programs.

There were 4 major regional and remote community engagement programs in the Kimberley and Pilbara, which included 68 school workshops and over 2700 participants, 70 % being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

Tura commissioned 12 new works. We produced 41 performances and presented 29 live works, of which 14 were new Australian works.

Over the year Tura engaged 98 principal creatives of which 71 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

Tura partnered with more than 50 organisations across the year, maintaining relationships with communities around regional and remote Australia while creating new connections nationally and internationally.

Our vision is an Australia where creativity, collaboration and artistic risk are valued and connect us to our country and to one another. Tura recognise and thank all of our community partners, artists and supporters without whom our programs and projects wouldn’t be possible.

CULTURE THROUGH SOUND

Operating since 1987, Tura has been a producer and supporter of new music and sound art for over 36 years. Tura creates cultural experiences that connect us all in meaningful and surprising ways. We celebrate First Nations people and culture by working with and for Indigenous artists and communities within intercultural learning and collaboration frameworks. We facilitate opportunities and collaborations for artists and composers across the national landscape to produce resonant and impactful works.

Through the art of sound – in its many forms and crossovers within a universe of old and new practice – we explore Australian identity and push the boundaries of expression.

Chair of the Board of Directors

I joined the Tura Board as Chair in the middle of 2023, just as Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool was beginning its journey down from Kununurra to Perth. To be engaged with Tura at this incredible moment in its history was humbling. A rusty old car had been transformed through many different collaborations between communities, visual artists, musicians, composers and, perhaps most importantly, between cultures.

As I delve deeper into Tura’s programs over the last year, it is the intercultural collaboration that continues to stand out to me. This collaboration has come about over many years of commitment from the Tura team and its partners and I am focused on ensuring that this commitment not only continues but is able to grow and flourish.

My congratulations to Tos Mahoney, the entire Tura team and our many collaborators in regional Western Australia (in particular) who have delivered an incredible body of work in 2023.

I would like to thank my fellow Tura Board Directors who have welcomed me so warmly to the organisation. I also acknowledge the leadership of my predecessor as Chair, Simon Dawkins. Simon’s commitment to Tura at the Board level over so many years has been outstanding. He has left some big shoes to fill!

I trust you will learn more about Tura as you reflect on 2023 in this report, and I hope you will engage with our many programs in some way across 2024.

Robyn Glindemann

Artistic Director/CEO

Capturing past experiences can feel like trying to hold onto fleeting memories, each one a tapestry woven with intricate narratives. This challenge is especially pronounced when those moments are imbued with layers of complexity, as is often the case with Tura’s endeavours. Our task is to convey the essence of what unfolds remotely, navigating through realms of time, relationships, and processes that may seem distant yet profoundly impactful.

In our efforts, we occasionally produce large-scale outputs, attempting to bridge the gap between these distant worlds and a global perspective. Such was the case in 2023, during The Journey Down project, where we glimpsed into the expansive narrative of our intercultural collaboration model. This project provided a window, perhaps the clearest yet, into the long journey we’ve embarked upon in refining this model over time.

Through The Journey Down project, we witnessed the culmination of years of development, witnessing the intricate dance of cultures coming together in collaboration. It served as a testament to the resilience of human connection and the power of shared vision, even across vast distances and divergent backgrounds. As we continue to navigate the complexities of representation and storytelling, these moments serve as guiding lights, illuminating the path forward in our quest to share and celebrate the richness of our collective experiences.

The convergence of The Journey Down with our flagship cultural initiative, SoundFX in Fitzroy Crossing, echoed our core values and aspirations. Gratitude extends to the multitude who contributed to these endeavours and the myriad of programs throughout 2023, enriching us with their generosity and wisdom. Special recognition is reserved for the Gija Community in Warmun, whose enduring trust, belief, openness, and foresight have been instrumental over two decades.

May the narratives of these projects, alongside others featured in the pages ahead, ignite inspiration and admiration alike.

Tos Mahoney

(L-R) Andrew Daylight, Preben Ningarmarra, Mark Atkins, Chris Griffiths, Tristen Parr, Aviva Endean and Vanessa Tomlinson perform

The Journey Down. Photo by Edify Media.

PROJECTS

THE JOURNEY DOWN

“I can’t stop thinking about this continent as a giant stringed instrument and the humming and vibrations across Country.”

Audience Member

“ This is a journey of truth-telling. It is also a voice of hope for ongoing intercultural exchange and understanding.”

Arts Hub

The Journey Down

Presented by Tura in partnership with Western Australian Museum

24 August–16 September | Kununurra, Warmun, Halls Creek, Wangkatjungka, Fitzroy Crossing, Broome, Port Hedland, Karratha, Roebourne, Carnarvon, Geraldton, Perth

The Journey Down originated in the Everywhen –that deep sense of timing intertwining past, present and future. It brought together story and culture and tradition, across boundaries and forms, places and laws. It sought, in its own way, to find the right way, where we are able to nurture and care for each other through song and dance, to tell a new narrative about the places we belong to, about how sound and performance takes us out into the world and leads us home.

Commencing with a Joonba by the Waringarri Dancers on Miriwoong Country, Kununurra, The Journey Down was conceived by Tura as a coming together of many people to guide Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool (Gija for ‘old car’), a painted car wreck and sonic sculpture originally commissioned by Tura in 2017 and painted in 2021, to Boorloo Perth. From Warmun it traversed a long path, through backroads and highways, past lakes and hills, along the coast to Whadjuk Country where it now resides at the WA Museum Boola Bardip. Journeying through Halls Creek, Wangkatjungka, Fitzroy Crossing, Broome, Port Hedland, Karratha, Roebourne, Carnarvon, and Geraldton Countries and welcomed by Elders and musicians in their own land. A wrecked car and a breathing soundscape, performers and audiences, all on a 3,456 kilometre road trip from one end of a continent to another, of a scale both epic and intimate.

Created over six years through downpours and drought, through ups and downs, both personal and intercultural, The Journey Down brought together Gija producer Madeline Purdie, Tura’s Tos Mahoney, Miriwoong songmen and dancers Chris Griffiths and Preben Ningarmarra, Gija dancer Andrew Daylight, Yamatji didjeridu master Mark Atkins with leading Australian musicians Aviva Endean, Tristen Parr, Vanessa Tomlinson and animation and video designer Sohan Ariel Hayes. Each animation gave life and imparted breath to the painted sonic sculpture Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool, which was itself a collaboration between Gija painters Shirley Purdie, Gordon Barney, Nancy Nodea, Lindsay Malay, Gabriel Nodea, Mark Nodea, Eddie Nugget, Charlene Carrington and Evelyn Malgil with sound artist Jon Rose.

A bringing together of people and cultures, and a celebration of the desire for connection, The Journey Down reached thousands – 4,489 live attendees, with 3,903 in regional areas, and an online audience of 115,000. So many seeking new perspectives, new ways to feel music and sound in the landscape and to experience new ideas of the place that is so old.

The Journey Down was ushered into Boorloo with a Welcome to Country and a Smoking Ceremony on Whadjuk Boodjar near the Warmun Boab overlooking the Derbarl Yerrigan in Kaarta Koomba Kings Park. It was a moving way and perhaps the only way to welcome Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool to its current resting place. Another start for another end, a beginning of what we have and might all share, a moving in time to the Everywhen that is everywhere.

2023 Creative Team

Madeline Purdie Gija Producer and Cultural Advisor

Chris Griifiths | Miriwoong and Ngali-wurru Dancer, Singer, Storyteller and Cultural Advisor

Andrew (Pelican) Daylight | Gija Dancer

Preben Nigarmarra | Miriwoong Dancer and Dijeridu

Mark Atkins | Dijeridu

Vanessa Tomlinson Performer, Co-composer, Percussion

Aviva Endean | Performer, Co-composer, Clarinet, Built Instruments

Tristen Parr Performer, Co-composer, Cello

Jon Rose | Sound Sculpture Concept and Creation

Sohan Hayes | Video and Animation

James Savage Lighting

Tim Collins | Audio Engineer

Guy Smith Sound Advisor

Tos Mahoney | Creative Producer

Production Team

Melanie Naumoff | Stage Manager

James Savage Production Manager

Tristen Parr Technical Producer

Jada Koh Tour Assistant and on-tour Reaching Out Coordinator

Justin Marshall Production Assistant

Sian Murphy Communications and Marketing

Video footage and images used in The Journey Down program by Mark Jones, Bohdan Warchomij, Laure

Bernard, and Edify Media

Presentation Partner

Western Australian Museum

2023 Project Funding Partners

The Journey Down tour has been supported by the State Government of Western Australia through the Regional Arts and Cultural Investment Program, and the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.

Community Partners

Warmun Community Inc

Wamun Art Centre

Waringarri Aboriginal Arts

Location Partners

City of Karratha

City of Perth

Pilbara Ports Authority

Shinju Matsuri Festival

Town of Port Hedland

Opposite and above: Mark Atkins, Chris Griffiths, Preben Ningarmarra, Tristen Parr, Vanessa Tomlinson and Aviva Endean play Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool as part of The Journey Down, 2023.

Photo's by Edify Media.

Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool

Ongoing | WA Museum Boola Bardip

Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool (Gija for old car) is a powerful cultural object full of sound, story, intercultural collaboration and reconciliation.

The project began in 2017 when an old car wreck was converted into a sonic sculpture and instrument by composer and sound artist Jon Rose. Tura commissioned a number of emerging and established Gija artists to paint onto the sonic sculpture in 2018. The paintings depict stories of dreaming, Country, cars and journeys.

In 2020 the Western Australian Museum acquired Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool, and in August and September of 2023 Tura presented The Journey Down, an epic tour and performance of Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool from Kununurra to Perth to deliver the car to its new home at WA Museum Boola Bardip.

Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool is now a part of the WA Museum’s permanent collection, and could be seen on display earlier this year as part of Three Journeys at WA Museum Boola Bardip. To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, The Journey Down performers reunited to perform excerpts from the work. As part of the exhibition visitors could watch footage of the tour, and excerpts from the performance projected onto the car, created by video and animation artist Sohan Hayes.

Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool will take up permanent display in 2024 where it will share stories of our regional communities, Gija culture and be enjoyed by visitors from all over the world.

Gija Artists

Shirley Purdie

Gordon Barney

Nancy Nodea

Lindsay Malay

Gabriel Nodea

Eddie Nulgit

Charlene Carrington

Mark Nodea

Evelyn Malgil

Andrew (Pelican) Daylight

Jon Rose Sound Sculpture Concept and Creation

Sohan Hayes Video and Animation

Tristen Parr | Installation Sound Design

Bohdan Warchomij | Photography and Videography 2017–2018

Mark Jones | Photography and Videography 2020

Jess Wyld Photography 2021

Laure Bernard Videography 2021

Edify Media | Photography and Videography 2022–2023

Partners

Western Australian Museum

Warmun Community Inc

Ngalangangpum School

East Kimberley Job Pathways

Project Funding Partners

The creation and development of Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool has been supported by the State Government of Western Australia through the Department of Local Government Sport and Cultural Industries, the Australian Government through the Regional Arts Fund, Healthway and the Ian Potter Foundation.

Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool on the Joonba Grounds in Warmun, 2021.

Photo by Jess Wyld

“The car is not just an instrument but a canvas for Gija stories.”

The Guardian

“Seeing that car on Miriwoong Country the other day, I really got emotional at that first show. It connects us back to Country, so for our younger students who are going to school in Perth I encourage them to go see it because it’ll make you feel better. It’ll connect you back to Gija Country.”

Madeleine

Purdie, Chair of Warmun Community Inc

Gija artist Shirley Purdie with her painting on Warnarral Ngoorrngoorrool in 2021. Photo by Jess Wyld.

Fitzroy Valley District High School Student participating in a music workshop with Program Director Gillian Howell.

Photo by Edify Media

Sound FX

1–21 May and 21 August–17 September

Fitzroy Crossing, Kimberley

In 2023, Sound FX completed its sixth year of ongoing collaboration with community partners in the Fitzroy Valley led by award-winning community music facilitator, researcher and educator Dr Gillian Howell.

Exploring music, story, cultural knowledge, and language through long term collaborations, the project aims to strengthen and diversify the ways that music-making can support community goals around language knowledge, wellbeing, and healing.

In May, August, and September this year, Gillian Howell and project coordinator Annika Moses worked with students and teachers at Fitzroy Valley District High School (FVDHS), Bayulu Remote Community School and language educators at Baya Gawiy Buga yani Jandu yani u (Baya Gawiy) family centre, part of Marninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre (MRWC).

Amongst many, a highlight of the 2023 program included further development of The Baya Gawiy Songwriting Project, a three-way research partnership between MWRC, Tura and the University of Melbourne. The official research report will be published in early 2024. The songs generated by this action research will be included in a Fitzroy Valley songbook to be published by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation in 2024.

Another highlight included Fitzroy Valley District Highschool students learning songs written by former students in previous years of the space inbetween Sound FX project, and performing them at a community concert with over 250 attendees. The Year 4-6s also composed their own songs, including an instrumental piece for tuned percussion ensemble.

We look forward to continuing Sound FX into its seventh year, and furthering the positive social impact outcomes of this program led by and alongside our partners in the Fitzroy Valley Community.

2023 Creative Team

Gillian Howell | Program Director

Annika Moses | Project Coordinator and Facilitator

Edify Media | Photography and Videography

Project Donors

Supported by the Alexandra and Lloyd Marin Family Foundation and Tura regional donors Graeme and Lorraine Rowley, Bruce and Charmaine Cameron, Irene Lawson and Brendan Kissane, Joan Spiller and Philip Yetton, Helen Symon and Ian Lulham.

Project Funding Partners

The Australian Government’s Indigenous Languages and Arts Program

The Western Australian Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ Creative Communities Recovery Program

Minderoo Foundation

Healthway promoting the Act-Belong-Commit message

The Feilman Foundation

Alexandra & Lloyd Martin Family Foundation

The University of Melbourne

Local Partners

Fitzroy Valley District High School

Baya Gawiy yani Jandu yani u Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre

Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency

Nindilingarri Cultural Health Services

Acknowledgements

Tura and the artists thank the communities that have partnered with us and the many Indigenous mobs who call Fitzroy Crossing home, including the Walmajarri, Gooniyandi, Wangkatjungka, Nyikina and Bunuba peoples. We thank these peoples for their ongoing care, custodianship and connection to the land. Thank you to the Elders and community members who have welcomed us onto Country.

Fitzroy Valley District High School Students with Project Coordinator

Annika Moses and Program Director Gillian Howell performing for The Journey Down artists. Photo by Edify Media

“ We feel that it belongs to us. You feel that different vibe, that feeling you know, like you’re writing your own song in language and wow, you know, this is what we gonna teach our kids to learn when they’re ready to go to school. And it’s not easy, like you do it once and then it’s done. No, it takes time.”

Patricia

Cox, Marninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre

Kulininpalaju

10 July–5 August | Newman, Punmu, East Pilbara

Kulininpalaju [Goo (short oo)-lin-in bah-lah-joo (short oo)] is a long-term creative program partnership between Tura, Martumili Artists (MMA) and supported by BHP.

The project explores the extensive possibilities of collective listening and recording – literally translating to – we are listening. Across three years of on-Country creative development from 2021 to 2023, Tura and Martumili have honed a strong methodology for Martu-led intercultural collaboration in the creative sound art medium. Influenced by Martu artists’ advanced and nuanced approach to visual storytelling through acrylic and physical mediums (such as weaving), Kulininpalaju explores sound as an exciting and potent medium for sharing Country, supporting intergenerational knowledge transfer and contributing to collective cultural wellbeing.

The 2023 residency took place on Nyiyarparli Country in Newman at the Martumili Art Centre and Punmu, one of the most remote Aboriginal communities in Australia located 660 kilometres north-east of Newman.

Facilitated by leading Australian sound artist Philip Samartzis and project coordinator Annika Moses, this program provides Martu artists with a series of creative residencies. In 2023, fourteen Martu artists were engaged as paid participants and trained in various sound recording equipment and techniques, editing and composition as well as the development of new conceptual work, guided by Elders, cultural advisors and input from community members.

There were a total of twelve on-Country recording trips with Martu artists and school partners, resulting in over fifty hours of new audio which contributed to the Kulininpalaju Archive. Four new sound compositions were recorded and composed by Martu artists.

Kulininpalaju will culminate in a creative sound composition for the Warrarnku Ninti Light Show, presented as part of MMA and Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa (KJ)’s yearly programming in 2024.

Acknowledgements

Tura and the artists thank the communities that have partnered with us and the Martu and Nyiyaparli people for their ongoing care, custodianship and connection to the land. Thank you to the Elders and community members who have welcomed us onto Country.

2023 Tura Team

Philip Samartzis | Lead Sound Artist

Annika Moses | Sound Artist

2023 Martumili Team

Amy Mukherjee Martumili Manager

Anna Spencer | Martumili Project Officer

2023 Community Artists

Marlene Anderson

Gladys Kuyu Bidu (Cultural Advisor)

Owen John Bilijabu

Dean Brookes

Rianne Burton

Mayika Chapman

Corina Jadai

Sarah Jones (Cultural Advisor)

Alana Patch

Anya Samson

Bianca Simpson

Kimeal Simpson

Alysha Taylor

Corban Clause Williams

Local Partners

Martumili Artists

Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa (KJ Rangers)

Punmu Community

RAWA Community School

Project Funding Partners

BHP

The Western Australian Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ Creative Communities Recovery Program

Martu artist Alysha Taylor at Sandy Creek on Nyiyarparli Country, 2023.

Photo by Anna Spencer

“A fine example of Australian eco-artistry”

Kate Milligan, Australian Music Centre

Louise Devenish performing Alluvial Gold. Photo by Edify Media

Alluvial Gold

Louise Devenish, Stuart James and Erin Coates

7 and 19 April | Four Winds Festival, Bermagui, NSW and the Melbourne Recital Centre, VIC

After a successful season at PICA in 2022, Alluvial Gold was presented nationally in 2023.

The Alluvial Gold team presented the work at the Four Winds Festival in Bermagui, New South Wales, before travelling to Melbourne to perform as part of New Music Days at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

This visceral work, described as “a journey through a densely rich world” by Artshub upon its debut, continued to capture the imaginations of audiences as it took them below the surface of Australia’s rivers and waterways.

The set for Alluvial Gold remained a core part of the work, with sculptural percussion instruments modelled on dolphin bones, native oyster shells and marine ecology, paired with vibraphone and electronics to create an immersive soundscape in this theatrical performance installation.

In 2024 Alluvial Gold will travel to Berlin, Germany to be pitched at Classical:Next. You can now watch the recording of this performance on our website.

Artistic Team

Louise Devenish Creative Director and Performer

Stuart James Creative Director and Composer

Erin Coates Visual Artist, video and sculpture

Mia Holton | Projection Design

Bruce McKinven | Set Design

Peter Young Lighting design

Acknowledgements

Alluvial Gold is produced by Tura. New Music Days is generously supported by the Robert Salzer Foundation. Dr Louise Devenish is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE200100555) funded by the Australian Government.

Yamatji man Mark Atkins playing Dijeridu, as part of The Journey Down in 2023. Photo by Edify Media

Mungangga Garlagula

Mark Atkins, Erkki Veltheim

Mungangga Garlagula is a collaboration in music, sound and story by legendary artists

Mark Atkins and Erkki Veltheim.

Mungangga Garlagula (having a yarn around the fire) is rooted in Atkins' Yamatji and Irish/Australian heritage and beyond his renowned didjeridu virtuosity reveals his masterly poetry and storytelling with some of Australia’s finest instrumentalists.

Development of all aspects of the production continued across 2023 as it heads towards its world premiere in 2024.

Key Creatives

Mark Atkins

Erkki Veltheim

Co-creatives

Genevieve Lacey

Stephen Magnusson

Anthony Pateras

Scott Tinkler

Vanessa Tomlinson

Creative Team

Niklas Pajanti Lighting Design

Ruth Little | Dramaturge

Acknowledgements

Commissioned by Tura with the support of the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body and Ulrike Klein AO.

Gradient

Olivia Davies, Callum G’Froerer and Nick Roux

9–11 March | The Liberty Theatre as part of Perth Festival

In March, Composer and Photographer Olivia Davies, Trumpeter Callum G’Froerer and media designer Nick Roux premiered their new work Gradient as part of Perth Festival.

Gradient was the noise of multiple arguments – minimalism versus hoarding, attention versus boredom, sound versus light, humans versus machines, and acoustics versus architecture.

Audiences were invited to come and go throughout the sixhour performance, reclining in the cavernous Liberty Theatre, submerged in projections and surrounded by improvised sounds of the double bell trumpet, played by Callum G’Froerer making his way around the space.

Using software developed by media designer Nick Roux, G’Froerer’s trumpet playing controlled large-scale video projections, blending and mixing layers of a photo library that was created in real time by award-winning composer and photographer Olivia Davies.

Gradient was a deeply immersive experience, cocooning the audience in light and sound and providing a space of contemplation in the heart of Perth city.

Creative Team

Olivia Davies Composer and Photographer

Callum G’Froerer | Co-composer and performer

double-bell trumpet

Nick Roux | System Design

Joshua Pether Dramaturge and Movement

Consultant

Partners

Perth Festival

The Liberty Theatre

Project Funding Partners

The Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, The Western Australian Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and the Minderoo Foundation.

Gradient as part of Perth Festival 2023. Photo by Edify Media.

The Narli Ensemble

20–21 April | Carnarvon and Wooramel Station

In April 2023, the Narli Ensemble reunited in Carnarvon for a special performance to celebrate the Solar Eclipse.

Curated by Tura, The Narli Ensemble features nationally and internationally renowned musicians including Aboriginal artists Mark Atkins (didjeridu/ vocals) and Stephen Pigram (vocals/guitarist) with cellist Tristen Parr, violinist Erkki Veltheim, guitarist Stephen Magnusson, percussionist Joe Talia and flautist Tos Mahoney.

The performances featured music from Kimberley Echoes, a powerful cross-cultural celebration created by the ensemble over five years of musical collaboration and experiences across the Kimberley, its landscapes and its people.

Creative Team

Mark Atkins | Didjeridu, vocals

Stephen Pigram Guitar, vocals

Erkki Veltheim | Violin

Stephen Magnusson | Guitar

Tristen Parr | Cello

Joe Talia | Percussion

Tos Mahoney | Flute

Production

Guy Smith | Audio and sound technician

Project Funding Partners

Shire of Carnarvon Wooramel Station

The Narlis Photo by Frances Andrijich.

Wild Violins of Warmun

21–25 September | Warmun, East Kimberley

The Wild Violins of Warmun program celebrated its fifth year in 2023. The program is in collaboration with the Ngalangangpum School in Warmun, and was initiated by renowned composer, performer, and teacher Dr Hollis Taylor. The aims of the program are to create new sound worlds and storylines using violins brought to the community for the project and strengthen culture through music making, language and collaboration.

“I felt brave.”

Ngalangangpum school student after performing at TJD community event

The Ngalangangpum School Band performing original songs about Country for community at the Warmun performance of The Journey Down on Gija Country. Photo by Edify Media

In 2023, Wild Violins was facilitated by Tura Project Coordinator

Annika Moses and sound artist Lily Tait. The residency consisted of ten music workshops with Ngalangangpum students that included songwriting, violin playing, band and instrument performances and health education.

The students created one new sound work, adding to their growing collection of songs about Country. They performed two of these works; Walking on my Country and Calm Country in front of over 150 community members and guests as part of a pre-performance for The Journey Down. This performance was a significant achievement for the students, and was a highlight of the week-long residency.

Artists

Annika Moses | Sound artist and program coordinator

Lily Tait | Sound artist and facilitator

Community Partners

Ngalangangpum School

Warmun Community Inc.

Warmun Art Centre

Project Funding Partners

Healthway promoting the Act-Belong-Commit message

Acknowledgements

Tura and the artists thank the communities that have partnered with us, and the Gija people for their ongoing care, custodianship and connection to the land. Thank you to the Elders and community members who have smoked and blessed us, welcoming us onto Country.

COPRODUCTIONS

Subliminal Drift as part of Fremantle Biennale, 2023.

Photo by Rebecca Mansell.

Subliminal Drift

STRUT Dance and Fremantle Biennale

26–28 October | Bathers Beach, Fremantle

Commissioned by STRUT Dance in association with Tura and presented by the Fremantle Biennale, Subliminal Drift was an ambitious new work from award winning choreographer Laura Boynes.

Continuing Tura’s long standing collaboration with STRUT, the work featured a new WA sound score by composer Callum O’Reilly, commissioned by Tura.

The site-specific work took place at Bathers Beach in Fremantle and gestured to the long histories of human movements and mass protest. Dancers arrived by boat, making their way to shore and performing amongst the sand and rocks that the site provided as a natural theatre. The epic score used speakers and megaphones, providing a sound journey for the work which was performed against the setting sun.

Creative Team

Laura Boynes | Director and choreographer

Callum O’Reilly | Composer and sound designer

Sam Fox Performer

Zendra Giraudo Performer

Matthew Morris Performer

Ella Rose-Trew Performer

Izzy Leclezio Performer

Ebony Cunliffe | Performer

Acknowledgements

Commissioned by STRUT Dance in association with Tura, presented by Fremantle Biennale and supported by The Humich Family.

ATOTAL

Franck Vigroux and Antoine Schmitt

15 March | The Rechabite

French composer Franck Vigroux and installation artist Antoine Schmitt combine analogue instruments and visualised algorithms to seamlessly mesh the worlds of colossal sound and video.

The work’s aim was to deconstruct – in order to better reconstruct – the process of imposition by using repetition and absolute synchronism. When total art work is pushed to its absolute limit, it begins to resemble the manipulation techniques of totalitarianism, namely the elimination of critical thinking, an onslaught of repetitive semantics and subliminal messaging.

ATOTAL is an illumination of this problematic process and a proposal towards a heightened awareness of it, an awareness and consciousness that can be potentially society-saving.

Perth audiences witnessed a world class performance, surrounded by epic sound and visuals that overtook the Rechabite in an overwhelming, moving work by two artists who are leaders in their fields.

Creative Team

Franck Vigroux Live digital music

Antoine Schmitt | Live generative video projection

Acknowledgements

Franck Vigroux and Antoine Schmitt’s National Australian tour was made possible through the support of the French Institute Paris, the Embassy of France in Australia, CNM and Occitanie en Scène. Cie d’Autres Cordes is supported by the Regional Council and DRAC Occitanie France.

ACHIEVEMENTS

National Acknowledgement

Our ongoing programs have become even more sustainable through our securing of Four-Year Investment funding from Creative Australia from 2025–2028.

We are incredibly grateful to receive this essential support that will allow us to continue our work across Australia and beyond. We look forward to building upon our 36 year history of presenting, producing, commissioning, exhibiting, publishing, advocating and supporting Australian cultural development.

Regional Producer

Across 2022 and 2023 Tura piloted a Regional Producer program. Rising to the challenge was Tara Gower, who embodies a fusion of expertise and cultural insight vital to our intercultural initiatives. With an unwavering commitment to community enrichment, Tara cultivated local talent and fostered intercultural understanding across her tenure. Her essential contribution to Sound FX, The Journey Down and the Reaching Out Program was profound for which we celebrate and are endlessly grateful.

Tura Website

2023 ushered in a new era for Tura with the launch of our new website. Designed by With Architecture Studio and developed by Strange Animals in collaboration with our Communications Coordinator, this website highlights Tura’s projects, experiences and the communities and people that we work with. We look forward to growing this platform even further over the coming years, to capture and reflect upon our diverse and varied 36 year history, as well as our exciting future.

TURA PEOPLE

2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Simon Dawkins (Chair)

Robyn Glindemann (Chair)

Rod Campbell

Julian Tompkin

Heather Zampatti

Zelinda Bafile

2023 Partners

GOVERNMENT FUNDING PARTNERS

Tura’s ongoing existence and programs are enabled by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body and the Western Australia State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries in association with Lotterywest.

GOVERNMENT PROJECT FUNDING PARTNERS

The Western Australia Department of Local Government Sport and Cultural Industries

The Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body

The Australian Government Office for the Arts, Indigenous Languages and Arts program

REGIONAL PROGRAM SPONSORS

BHP

Minderoo Foundation

Healthway promoting the Act Belong Commit message

2023 DONOR CIRCLE

Irene Lawson and Brendan Kissane

Charmaine and Bruce Cameron

Graeme and Lorraine Rowley

Helen Symon and Ian Lulham

Katrina Chisholm

Kay and Rod Campbell

Philip Yetton and Joan Spiller

Robyin Glindemann

Vanya Cullen

Elizabeth Fong

The Mietta Foundation

The Alexandra and Lloyd Martin Foundation

The Feilman Foundation

The Bux Foundation

The Minderoo Foundation

The Mack Family

2023 TEAM

Tos Mahoney | Artistic Director/CEO

Tristen Parr | Producer

Tara Gower | Regional Producer

Sian Murphy | Communications

Jane House | Business Administration

Medeia Cohan Business Development

Pauline Sikweti | Finance Officer

Annika Moses | Regional Project Coordinator

Malika McLeod | Diversity Advisor

Mollie Hewitt, Rania Ghandour | Strategic Consultants

2023 PARTNERS

APRA AMCOS

Australian Music Centre

Baya Gawiy Buga Yani Jandu Yani U

City of Karratha

CNM

Embassy of France

Finding Our Voice

Fitzroy Valley District High School

Four Winds Festival

Fremantle Biennale

Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa Rangers, Newman Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency

Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre

Martumili Artists

Melbourne Recital Centre

Ngalangangpum School

Nindilingarri

Occitanie en Scène

Outcome Unknown

Perth Festival

Pilbara Ports Authority

Punmu Community

Shinju Matsuri Festival

Shire of Carnarvon

Strange Animals

STRUT Dance

The City of Perth

The Liberty Theatre

Tone List

Town of Port Hedland

Ukaria Cultural Centre

University of Melbourne

Waringarri Aboriginal Arts

Warmun Art Centre

Warmun Community Inc

Western Australian Museum

With Architecture Studios

Wooramel Station

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