2023 RoR 'Future Ancestors Podcast' Launch
Episode 1 of Future Ancestors Podcast outlines the critical importance of a First Nations Voice to parliament: Spotify https://shorturl.at/cLQ59
Darby Ingram, a Wiradjuri and Pacific Islander writer from Griffith NSW, officially launched the podcast series on Thursday 21st September 2023. Ingram acknowledged how important the Rooms of Requirement Griffith - ROR and Western Riverina Arts Residency has been. The first episode features an in-depth conversation with Indigenous Constitutional Lawyer Bridget Cama, a Wiradjuri First Nations and Pasifika Fijian woman, who details the history and importance of a First Nations Voice to Parliament. Cama stresses the gravity of what the 2023 referendum means and that it is not a new journey but a very old one. By this Cama explains the civil rights movement in Australia, led by William Cooper and others, who formally petitioned the Commonwealth for constitutional change back in 1938, which was denied. Change came in the 1967 referendum but has proven, through ongoing government policy at all levels, not to be even nearly enough.
Bridget has been working with the Uluru Dialogue since March 2019 and is an associate of the Indigenous Law Centre at UNSW and a legal support team to the Uluru Dialogue. Bridget is also the Co-Chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue which works closely to provide a national platform for First Nations youth voices to be heard in the Uluru movement and in First Nations affairs more broadly.
The 2023 WRA RoR Residency has been led by WRA’s Projects and Communications Officer Gemma Purcell and RoR’s Kristy-Lee Agresta. WRA Executive Director, Aanya Whitehead, outlined the history of the residency which was an initiative that began in 2022 and co-designed by previous WRA Communications Officer, Camille Whitehead, and Kristy-Lee Agresta. She also explained how successful and impactful this regional arts initiative has been in just the two years it has been running. Visual Artist, Dorothy Roddy, was the inaugural recipient of the residency who last year created a collection of portraits of local people drawn from live sittings that went on to exhibit around the region. Local Western Riverina creatives, Elijah Ingram and Lillardia Briggs-Houston, are also featured in future episodes of Future Ancestors Podcast .
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Images: 1) Darby Ingram 2) Darby Ingram interviewing at RoR Podcast Studio 3) WRA Project and Communications Officer Gemma Purcell who leads the project with RoR's Kristy-Lee Agresta. WRA's Creative Officer Elijah Ingram. 4) The 2023 WRA RoR Residency Team: L-R Gemma Purcell (WRA), Darby Ingram (Artist in Residence), Kristy-Lee Agresta (RoR), Aanya Whitehead (WRA), Elijah Ingram (WRA). Courtesy Western Riverina Arts.
