First Nations contemporary music to shine

Twelve First Nations-led music organisations across Australia will share in $500,000 under the latest round of the Indigenous Contemporary Music program.

Grant recipients will have access to training, mentoring, skills development and promotional opportunities. The program also supports pathways to ongoing income and employment in the music industry.

Amongst the successful recipients:

• $65,331 will support the Yarrapay Festival, an annual free community event in the remote Indigenous community of Yirrkala in North-East Arnhem Land which showcases local Yolnu music, art, food, and dance and provides local musicians and artists a chance to perform and develop their skills.
• $79,913 will support Mad Proppa Deadly to offer First Nations young people, and emerging and established artists professional development in song writing and producing, as well as recording and performance opportunities across regional and remote NSW.
• $40,000 to Footscray Community Arts Centre’s Indigenous Musician Performance and Production Mentorship program, which will provide networks, mentorship, pathways, skills development and performance opportunities for emerging Victorian-based Indigenous musicians.

The program is inclusive of First Nations performers in urban, regional and remote communities performing and recording in Australia and overseas.

Recognising and respecting the crucial place of First Nations stories at the centre of Australia's arts and culture is a key pillar of Australia's National Cultural Policy—Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place.

Image: Previous Indigenous Contemporary Music program recipient Ellie Lovegrove. Photo by James Alberts