The Garma Festival - Essay Example

Name Tutor Course Date The Garma Festival Introduction Garma festival is principal cultural exchange event in Australia. On August 5th, 2011, the event was held onsite at distant Gulkula, a customary meeting place in Arnhem Land. I attended the event and experienced its significance. The event was nationally intimate, spectacular and a significant celebration of cultural practices and traditions and a venue for a major forum on native issues. Type of performance The Garma festival is an event that celebrated indigenous culture. Colson notes that Garma is a distinctive combination of entertainment, education and cultural immersion, exchange and interaction (48). It is a nationwide intimate, spectacular and significant celebration of cultural practices and traditions such as music, song, art and dance and the yearly venue for a key forum on native matters. Garma occurs when individuals with diverse values and ideas mingle and negotiate knowledge within a reverent learning atmosphere. The Garma festival, held at Gulkula generated this form of atmosphere for the Yolngu who are the Aboriginal individuals of north east Arnhem Land and Ngapaki who are non-indigenous Australians. The time and venue of the event I attended 2011 Garma the 5th day of August 2011 in Gulkula ground in north east Arnhem Land. The event was promoted and arranged by Yothu Yindi foundation where five Yolngu clan were represented. These clans included Wanguri, Gumatj, Galpu, Rirratjingu ad Djapu. The Garma festival was meant to commemorate the Yolngu culture with a sequence of events that were based on performance, traditions and local art, together with forum looking at serious matters that faces this community in the present day. Nature of the Garma festival Garma festival was secular in nature. The Garma festival which was held at Gulkula ground was the biggest and most exciting celebration of Yolngu (the Aboriginal individuals of the north-east Arnhem Land) culture. This event is greatly considered as one of the most important indigenous festival in Australia. According to Rolls et al. the Garma festival, with its impressive practices and traditions which included music, art, and song and dance had cultural significance for the Yolgnu, as a place and as a practice (55-56). It occurs when individuals leave their selfishness and anger, when different ideas and value and emerge and parley comprehension in a respectful learning atmosphere. This festival is viewed as a lively gate amid two worlds; the inheritance of the Yolngu culture which is one of the oldest existing cultures on the world and the contemporary culture represented by the non-indigenous Australians or Ngapaki. Passing on knowledge from one generation to another is a core part of native Australia culture. This assists to ensure that primeval traditions survive, regardless of all transformations that have occurred since the settlement of Europeans on the country. Youngsters learn the knowledge, wisdom and stories of their nations through listening to the elders (Colson, 13). The content of Garma festival Garma was a collective event that brought people from diverse backgrounds to share and experience the Yolngu culture. As the most significant cultural celebration, the festival was a perfect cultural exchange for the clan groups living in Arnhem Land as well as clans throughout Australia. Garma is considered as Australia’s native cultural exchange event and it offered me a special opportunity to share culture and knowledge, through experiencing and being involved directly in a display of cross cultural learning, cultural practice, education, actual cultural interaction along with a distinctive line up of entertainment. The garma event featured ceremonial performances known as bunggul along with indigenous cultural tourism activities which introduced visitors to numerous aspects of tribal life. The Garma as a non-scripted performance The Garma event was a non-scripted performance that celebrated an oldest living culture, the Yolngu of the Australia’s northern territory. The cultural life of these aboriginal people was the focus of this event. In the spirit of the garma, a Yolgnu phrase that explains a two way learning procedure, native Australians came together with non-indigenous Australians and worldwide guests for cultural exchange. The centerpiece event of the Garma festival was the every day bunggul ceremony, a gathering that featured music and dances performed in customary dress. There were also educational activities entailing class in the way to play yikadi, field trips to gather native foods and plants and learning how to make and throw spears. The festival also involves an academic forum aimed at investigating matters facing the Yolngu people aw well as other indigenous groups. Setting of the event Garma festival was held at Gulkula in north east Arnhem Land. The Gulkula site is around forty kilometers from Nhulunbuy township ad around fourteen kilometers south east of Garma ceremony enabled me to share Yolgnu cultural inheritance. The Garma festival is intended at sharing culture and knowledge and opening individual’s hearts to message of land at Gulkula. According to Gibson and Connel, the location at Gulkula has insightful meaning for Yolngu. Set within a stringy bark forest having views to Gulf of Carpentaria, Gulkula is where ancestor Ganbulabula yikadi into being amongst the people of Gumatj (210). Gulkula is a region with a wide range of important ancestral connections. By being held at Gulkula, the ceremony encourages the preservation, maintenance and practice of traditional song, dance ceremony at art on Yolgnu lands in the North east Arnhem Land (Gibson, & Connel, 213) Use of music and technology Manikay is the type of music performed at garma festival. Men, children and women perform manikay (song) and dances. Traditional music was performed for several hours in the afternoon. Local individuals from each age from the community were involved in these performances. There was no use of technology in Garma event. All the materials used for making spears and dyes are collected from the local environment. What marked the beginning and end of the performance An awe-inspiring and spectacular ceremonial performance marked the opening of the event. After the performances, all attendants were welcomed to start the sharing of culture and knowledge through events that were showcased in the festival, such as Yidaki master classes, craft of spear throwing and spear making for hunting, native knowledge of sea sites and land expedition and female’s cultural practices like gathering of bush medicines, and bush dyes and pandanus leaves for weaving. Louis (250) notes that incorporated in 2011 Garma ceremony was an academic forum that focused upon issues like the environment, indigenous cultural livelihoods and arts. The event ended with local people performing traditional songs and dances. How the performance changes consciousness Garma is a wonderful event that changed my consciousness. Through attending the event, I was able to better understand Yolngu culture and cultural practices and traditions associated with it. It is was essential and wonderful event buzzed with constant activity and is a way of educating people and the entire globe on the globe’s oldest race, the aborigines. Through attracting people from both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, this event enables people to share knowledge, appreciate one another and live in peace and harmony (Rolls et al, 79). Odes used in Garma festival A variety of activities and events took place at the Garma festival, including dance, song music, and art. The major spectacle of the Garma was the evening Bunggul performances, which displayed local people performing their traditional ceremonies and dances. There were also diverse Yolngu clans who performed with their conventional body paintings. The people who were performing included both young and experienced dancers. Together with key forum as well as integrated academic presentations on culture and language, key forum participants had the chance to watch every day music and bunggul performances, enjoy Garma art projects and exhibitions and take part in night and evening activities. The Garma event brought together individuals from different regions with the native Yolngu people who practiced and shared their traditional culture and ways. Importance of Garma festival to the culture The event was aimed at encouraging people to practice, maintain and preserve the Yolngu culture. The event aims at supporting the maintenance, teaching, development and enterprise potential of the Yolngu culture life. With Yolgnu culture being in existence more than four hundred years, the event is a myriad of sounds and sights. The Garma festival was also aimed at creating better relationships between the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and encouraging and developing economic activities for the Yolngu and for the maintenance and nurturing of cultural practices and traditions. According to Gibson and Connell, (275), economic development is vital to a community and the cultural practices and traditions forms the societal fabric, holding individuals together and reminding them of who they are and where they come from. Through Garma, people displayed that it is possible to incorporate economic development and cultural traditions and practices and Yolngu traditional musicians, dancers and artists have gained global acknowledgement with their art. Performers at Garma festival The major people who performed at the 2011 Garma event were traditional dancers, musicians and artists. The event attracted approximately twenty clan groups from the Arnhem Land, along with representatives from neighboring native peoples and clan groups all over the Northern Territory, Australia and Arnhem Land. More than 2,000 non-indigenous and indigenous Australians and worldwide visitors gathered for this event which was celebration of Yolngu cultural exchange. Conclusion In conclusion, it is worth noting that the Garma festival is important cultural event that encouraged people to practice, preserve and maintain the Yolgnu culture, which is one of the oldest cultures in the world. The annual event held at Gulkulu site attracted both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and activities involved in this event focused on Yolngu culture. Works Cited (References) Colson, Mary. Indigenous Australia culture. Australia: Raintree Press, 2012. Gibson Chris & Connel, John. Festival places: Revitalizing rural Australia. Australia: Channel View Publications, 2011. Louis Isabela. A brief guide to Australia’s festivals featuring the tropfest, the Sydney fringe, the Garma festival of traditional cultures, the Isotopia festival and more. Sydney: Webster’s Digital Services, 2012. Rolls Mitchell, Johson Murray & Reynolds Henry. Historical dictionary of Australian Aborigines. Australia: Scarecrow Press, 2011. Bibliography Numbulwar (marked in red) is a small, primarily Aboriginal community on the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. The inhabitants of the region take part in Garma festival. Arnhem Land where I attended the Garma Festival. On August 5th, 2011 Cultural pride: Dancers from Numbulwar perform at the Garma Festival at Gulkula, in Arnhem Land, at the weekend. Indigenous knowledge: Caring for culture and country. Festival places: Revitalizing rural Australia Read More

The content of Garma festival Garma was a collective event that brought people from diverse backgrounds to share and experience the Yolngu culture. As the most significant cultural celebration, the festival was a perfect cultural exchange for the clan groups living in Arnhem Land as well as clans throughout Australia. Garma is considered as Australia’s native cultural exchange event and it offered me a special opportunity to share culture and knowledge, through experiencing and being involved directly in a display of cross cultural learning, cultural practice, education, actual cultural interaction along with a distinctive line up of entertainment.

The garma event featured ceremonial performances known as bunggul along with indigenous cultural tourism activities which introduced visitors to numerous aspects of tribal life. The Garma as a non-scripted performance The Garma event was a non-scripted performance that celebrated an oldest living culture, the Yolngu of the Australia’s northern territory. The cultural life of these aboriginal people was the focus of this event. In the spirit of the garma, a Yolgnu phrase that explains a two way learning procedure, native Australians came together with non-indigenous Australians and worldwide guests for cultural exchange.

The centerpiece event of the Garma festival was the every day bunggul ceremony, a gathering that featured music and dances performed in customary dress. There were also educational activities entailing class in the way to play yikadi, field trips to gather native foods and plants and learning how to make and throw spears. The festival also involves an academic forum aimed at investigating matters facing the Yolngu people aw well as other indigenous groups. Setting of the event Garma festival was held at Gulkula in north east Arnhem Land.

The Gulkula site is around forty kilometers from Nhulunbuy township ad around fourteen kilometers south east of Garma ceremony enabled me to share Yolgnu cultural inheritance. The Garma festival is intended at sharing culture and knowledge and opening individual’s hearts to message of land at Gulkula. According to Gibson and Connel, the location at Gulkula has insightful meaning for Yolngu. Set within a stringy bark forest having views to Gulf of Carpentaria, Gulkula is where ancestor Ganbulabula yikadi into being amongst the people of Gumatj (210).

Gulkula is a region with a wide range of important ancestral connections. By being held at Gulkula, the ceremony encourages the preservation, maintenance and practice of traditional song, dance ceremony at art on Yolgnu lands in the North east Arnhem Land (Gibson, & Connel, 213) Use of music and technology Manikay is the type of music performed at garma festival. Men, children and women perform manikay (song) and dances. Traditional music was performed for several hours in the afternoon.

Local individuals from each age from the community were involved in these performances. There was no use of technology in Garma event. All the materials used for making spears and dyes are collected from the local environment. What marked the beginning and end of the performance An awe-inspiring and spectacular ceremonial performance marked the opening of the event. After the performances, all attendants were welcomed to start the sharing of culture and knowledge through events that were showcased in the festival, such as Yidaki master classes, craft of spear throwing and spear making for hunting, native knowledge of sea sites and land expedition and female’s cultural practices like gathering of bush medicines, and bush dyes and pandanus leaves for weaving.

Louis (250) notes that incorporated in 2011 Garma ceremony was an academic forum that focused upon issues like the environment, indigenous cultural livelihoods and arts. The event ended with local people performing traditional songs and dances. How the performance changes consciousness Garma is a wonderful event that changed my consciousness.

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