Message Sticks Festival 2013

Overview

Soon the Opera House and its surrounds will erupt with Indigenous music, theatre and visual arts, when the 14th Message Sticks Festival launches. As festival director Rhoda Roberts points out, Bennelong Point is charged with its own ancient power as a historical gathering-place for Aboriginal corroboree and storytelling, and this year carries particular significance: it marks the 200th anniversary of the passing of the site's namesake, Woollarawarre Bennelong.

The expanded program showcases the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists across many disciplines. Tammy Anderson's chosen medium of expression is theatre, and her one-woman show I Don't Wanna Play House is said to mingle laughter and tears in just the right measure. Music-wise, there's plenty to get you grooving to Indigenous sounds. Dancestry melds traditional song cycles in a modern corroboree, while Late Nights at Bar Badu brings the song cycle under the stars with folk duo Microwave Jenny, Troy Bray, Hui-A, and hip hop outfit Street Warriors.

ARIA winner David Bridie directs Wantok: Sing Sing, which combines the force of 20 musicians and dancers as they follow the Songlines to evoke diverse landscapes stretching from West Papua to the deserts of Australia. There are also opportunities for getting educated about the rich heritage of the land and its people. The Yolngu Experience explores the history of north-east Arnhem Land, the region which gave us the legendary Gurrumul and Yothu Yindi. For more hands-on learning, Billinudgel Weavers will teach traditional weaving techniques that hearken back thousands of years. There's also a program of talks with celebrity speakers addressing issues facing the Indigenous community.

A complete list of events can be found on the Sydney Opera House website.