The Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation is pleased to announce that grant funding has been received from the Northern Territory Government to begin this exciting new two-year program. The program will collaborate with teachers, musicians and translators of six remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory to collect, translate and perform their children’s songs. Read more
The Galiwin’ku Festival was held during the week of June 24, 2019. The Festival was designed as a healthy lifestyle event, with health messages embedded in all of the activities. Read more
Each year in July the Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre hosts the Mowanjum Festival, sharing the vibrant, living culture of the Ngarinyin, Worrorra and Wunambal peoples. Over the last few years the Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation has forged a relationship with the Mowanjum Festival community and after some discussion offered to fund a small pilot project for the 2019 festival. Read more
Two great concerts, and a disco, were held as the finale to the Galiwin’ku Healthy Lifestyle Festival on Elcho Island, Gurrumul’s home, in early October, 2015. The Foundation was delighted to help make it happen and see a huge turnout of all ages. Read more
The 2017 project funded by the Federal Government’s Department of Communications and the Arts was the first year of a two-year funding agreement, and involved the Mambali Band from Numbulwar, B2M from the Tiwi Islands and the Lonely Boys from Ngukurr. It culminated with the band members delivering workshops at the 2017 Barunga Festival. Read more
The Foundation’s next project is the Recovery Concert in Gurrumul’s hometown of Galiwin’ku. Cyclones Lam and Nathan caused massive destruction earlier this year. Almost 300 people became homeless. People have recently moved from 4 months living in tents to demountable accommodation. It is still not known when houses will be repaired or new homes built. Read more
Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation has been working in partnership with Sunrise Health Service Aboriginal Corporation in the Katherine region with young women from remote communities. The Program, funded by the Westpac Foundation and the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation (Eldon & Anne Foote – Donor Advised Fund) organised Social and Emotional Wellbeing Camps and then brought everyone together for a final Community Women’s Gathering. Read more
The Barunga Festival is a celebration of remote Indigenous community life, held annually on the Queen’s birthday long weekend June in the small community of Barunga. Running annually since 1985, the festival has earned its place as one of the most important Indigenous festivals in regional Australia. Read more
The Galiwin’ku Healthy Life style festival started in 1998 and was managed by the Ngalkanbuy Health Clinic. The festival, in September each year, is unique in the NT because of both its isolation and commitment by the community to plan and run it themselves and to involve every organisation in town. Read more
The strong interest in circus training for young people from the Barunga area, and the benefits of the many skills, health improvement and related disciplines that flow from it led to the formation of a partnership between the Gurrumul Foundation and the Flying Fruit Fly Circus (FFFC) with support from the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation (TFFF), and the Australia Council for the Arts. Read more
The aim of the project is to increase self-awareness and self-confidence for girls aged between 10 and 18 years from Katherine and remote communities in the region. With a focus on health, nutrition, well-being and grooming, plus their interests and creativity in clothes and design – particularly Indigenous fabric prints and garments – the program tied in perfectly with the opportunity to present the inaugural Barunga Fashion Parade. Read more
Barunga Beats is arguably the most successful program the Foundation has supported and helped nurture to date. The program was initially the idea of Ben Andrews, the music teacher at the Barunga School. Read more