Race Matters

Nardi Simpson is a Yuwaalaraay storyteller from NSW’s North West freshwater plains. Her work has long been dedicated to breathing life into objects and story of the past through song, language revival and she continues to be heavily involved in the teaching and sharing of culture in both her Sydney and Yuwaalaraay communities. Her work spans music, composing, music direction and her debut novel titled Song of the Crocodile was winner of the 2017 Black&Write! Fellowship. She joined us to chat through the expansiveness of her practice and what it is to form connections that collapse the boundaries of colonial time through song, memory and listenting.  Nardi Simpson will appear at two events at the Sydney Writers Festival including Storytelling Gala: Letters to the Future on May 25 and Women of Another Australia on May 26. More details here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyday is a good day to support and buy from Black artists.  Formerly known as Black Bandcamp - Black Artist Database has a simple premise: to get more Black people paid for their music. It’s a crowdfunded resource of artists, aimed at bringing cultural and material support to the Black community. Alongside artists and DJs; they throw events, skills-building workshops and now have a podcast. It's also a project that seeks to call out the effects of white supremacy on creative access and daily lives; whilst providing an antidote rooted in the vulnerability and expressions of black creativity.  Hear from Tanya Akinola aka T-N. She's a naarm-based DJ, writer and label manager who has been working alongside B.A.D. She joined us to chat through how she got involved with B.A.D, creating your own systems of creativity, and what it is to act in meaningful solidarity with Black artists.  This week's show featured tracks by Black and First Nations artists selected by Tanya Akinola including Tygapaw, Dameeela, KMRU, plus unreleased tracks by Claddy World and Niks. To hear the full broadcast head to fbiradio.com/racemattersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the balance of curation and community-consultation especially when cultural identities are so fraught and disparate? How can a community-rooted event still serve as an invitation for learning and connection across differences? These are some of the themes that we explore with our guest this week, Hajer Al-Awsi. Alongside her new role festival director of the inaugural SWANA Film Festival, writer, arts worker and founder of Iraqi Diaspora Creatives Network. She joined Race Matters to chat through the new festival and thoughts behind the curation, as well as delving into the joys and challenges of presenting art of a complex and rich region.  Catch SWANA Film Fest from April 28- 30, showcasing over 20 films spanning across Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Armenia, and Syria! SWANA Film Festival is a project of Arts and Cultural Exchange Parramatta and is supported by Screen NSW, City of Parramatta and Arab Theatre Studio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s show we’re exploring what it is to continue to tell stories across evolving digital landscapes and the need to teach younger generations to care for, learn and grow alongside Country. That’s done in creative ways with the multimedia, First Nations theatre production Saltbush. It’s a production that follows two friends, discovering and growing an understanding of the land; and how that challenges and provokes their personal journeys - doing this by using painting, dance, sensory cameras and interactive storytelling story-telling.  Guest host for Race Matters Maleeka Gazula chatted to one of the show’s performers, Luke Currie-Richardson about all of this, as well as what it's been like to be an interdisciplinary storyteller in a show that’s been on stage for over a decade. Saltbush is on now until April 17 at the Sydney Opera House - get your tickets here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Race Matters were joined by Catherine Madviza, project lead of Codebreakers - an innovative output working alongside young people in Western Sydney to critically engage with social media, carving space to explore their identities, and advocate for social change in creative ways. Alongside its social platforms, Codebreakers in unique in that it has multiple ways of engaging with community and bridging that often-abstract bridge between community and policy-makers. Hear from Catherine on how they create an adaptive online space, and bring value to the creative ouput of young people alongside the challenges they face in making this possible. Plus, tracks selected by the codebreakers crew with some of their favourite Western Sydney artists.   Submit to their online gallery and be paid for your work! Learn more here.  Image: Queen of Hearts by Steph Martei part of Season 2 of the Codebreakers online gallery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Content note: This talk describes instances of transphobia and a mention of black deaths in custody. These are told from the lived experience of our panelists and how this shapes their response to the questions as well as their creative practice. Whilst not described in detail, we ask that you go gently and decide when the time is right for you to listen in.  What role does art have in inciting social change? How can alternative ways of making and connecting be an antidote to oppression? Can creative decisions become viable ways to forge solidarities across differences in our communities? How can we understand creativity not just as expression, but as tools of survival and hope?  Recorded live at Darling Square Library, Race Matters was in conversation with artists, activists and community-builders thinking through these questions and beyond. Hosted by Darren Lesaguis, he was joined by artist, rapper and ballroom icon Jamaica Moana, artist and educator Nicole Barakat and some words shared by writer, activist and curator of Queer+Black+Pride Latoya Rule.  Artwork by generously donated by TextaQueen. Event Credits This event was made possibly by the City of Sydney with special thanks to Teik Kim Pok Event Producer Volunteer - Tiana Severino-Fidow Recorded by - Harvey O'Sullivan  Photographer - Jenna Parker   The event was produced by Shareeka Helaluddin, as well as the final episode edit.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fjorn Bastos is someone who speaks and moves with intention. As an artist, Fjorn works primarily in sound and a style of narrativised performance under the name Papaphilia. Her 2021 album - ‘Remembrance of Things to Come’ is a pulsing and abstract exploration of time and grief.  As a researcher and community organiser - she’s also long been an outspoken voice for anti-racism, anti-colonial resistance and isn’t one to just speak without action. Her work is committed to interrogating and resisting colonial powers and forging connections and infrastructure to dismantle how those power structures show up in our everyday lives. She’s also a director of creative sector consultancy Future Tense, and the co-producer of +Concepts - a subversive performance lecture series.  She joined Darren Lesaguis to delve into all this, and how all her pursuits interweave into creating the world and communities she wants to be in; and the importance of sound as a form of resistance and healing.  Watch her newly-released video for All Are Syllables of the Great Tongue. And look out for more details of her playing live across MELB and SYD in late April. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A very special guest host this week, Sezzo: kōtare/kingfisher turned proud Ngāpuhi DJ, writer, curator, and medical student. She stepped on to the mic bringing with her a profound and loving dialogue with her kin Grayson and Hāmiora visiting from Aotearoa for World Pride. Their conversation spanned questions like "what is World Pride on stolen land?" and delved into First Peoples solidarities, the unique challenges and gifts of Takatāpui experiences, decolonial connections and cosmologies and what it is to be visitors on stolen land, and queer Māori futures. So much richness, tears and laughter in this dialogue, we are deeply honored to have been able to share Race Matters with them.  Image: An artwork from Te Timatanga curated by Hāmiora for Auckland Pride. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What would it mean to consider the radical potential of love, empathy, and pleasure— as an antidote to oppression and disconnection? Mimi Zhu doesn't want to romanticise love. Their debut title "Be Not Afraid of Love" is devoted to answering this, sharing in a way that is intimate and heart-tugging. Our conversation with them maps the pain and violence that can stop us from knowing how to enact and receive love, intimacy, queer kinship, and how loving action can be a tool for social change.  Mimi references some works of radical Black feminist and First Nations thinkers including bell hooks and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it mean to engage with the stories of the forcibly displaced? What happens when those people seek support in each other - and what does solidarity with that movement look like for queer people, leading into a time like World Pride?  Shareeka Helaluddin spoke with Renee Dixson, co-founder of the Forcibly Displaced People's Network (FDPN) ahead of their 2023 Queer Displacements Conference. Through Renee's own journey, and the work the FDPN does for LGBTQI+ people who have been forcibly displaced; their conversation spans queery-ing refugee advocacy, unpacking pinkwashing and corporate agendas in PRIDE, story-telling as a tool for social change. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.