Allan Marett, Professor of Musicology at the University of Sydney and Adjunct Professor in the School of Australian Indigenous Knowledge Systems at Charles Darwin University, is set to present a public lecture examining why Aboriginal music, unlike Aboriginal visual arts, is an almost unheard part of the National Heritage.
Professor Marett will consider issues such as public access to and restrictions on listening to Aboriginal music, the language and poetics of song, and the unfamiliar worlds and concepts referred to in songs.
He will argue that because mainstream Australian culture regards music and dance primarily as entertainment, it is difficult for non-Aboriginal Australians to appreciate the central role that song, dance and ceremony have in Aboriginal life and how vital ceremonial performances are to people’s sense of themselves and their place in the world, and for survival.
Professor Marett will examine a number of domains in which non-Aboriginal Australians have engaged with Aboriginal song in the realm of popular music, in academic research and in art music composition, and will assess the extent to which these lead to a genuine cultural dialogue.
The free seminar will be held on 17 August from 4.30pm at the MAGNT Theatrette, Museum and Art Gallery of the NT.
For further information contact Huw Brokensha on 8946 6960.