THE ART - Canberra 100

of petroglyphs (art etched onto the
surface of rocks) found throughout
the peninsula – some thought to be
over 30,000 years old. Hipbone Sticking
Out tells the story of the Aboriginal
people of Murujuga from ngurra
nyujunggamu ‘when the world was
soft’ and creation spirits carved the
land, to the incredible mining boom
of the present. Through a mythical
narrator, the audience is taken on
a journey that inverts history, with
the Pilbara being the ‘old world’ and
Europe ‘the new’ and includes familiar
historical elements such as Greco/
Roman gods, the paintings of Vermeer,
the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, the Dutch
East India Company, Terra Nullius,
damming of rivers, pearlers, Aboriginal
reservations, the first mining boom
and much more. There are ‘high
moments’ that reveal the greatness
of humanity but also some of the
darkest moments of history, not least
Australia’s tragic past to do with the
deaths of Aboriginal people, whether
‘in custody’ (as with John Pat) or from
illness and lack of care.
This production is exhilarating and
challenging. It inverts our notions of
nationhood and takes the audience
beyond the usual linear view of
history and looking to the future.
The two words, Yijala and Yala mean
‘now’ in Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi,
the two main languages of the Pilbara
region. The Yijala Yala Project and its
production Hipbone Sticking Out is
about the ‘now’ of all times, past,
present and future.
There are other threads running
through the production of this
artwork that make it extremely
interesting. In Ieramugadu, burning
issues include: how do the custodians
of Murujuga maintain, conserve and
manage this incredibly significant
cultural site in amongst all the
industrial activity, the complex
relationship between the local
Indigenous groups and the ‘fly-in,
fly-out’ mining staff and contractors,
how the resources boom affects
land, culture, society and family
relationships of the local people and
what will be left behind once the
mining ends. Alongside these complex
issues is the fact that the mining
industry also brings opportunity for
communities in the way of increased
employment and better social
services. Yijala Yala Project’s major
funding body is Woodside Energy
Ltd, a gas company that seeks to
establish long-term and meaningful
relationships with the communities
where they operate. They aim to
achieve these relationships by
understanding and managing the
impacts its operations may have
on communities and through the
development and implementation of
programs that deliver mutual benefits.
When a Woodside employee saw
Big hART’s play Ngapartji Ngapartji
the company realised the healing
potential in such productions.
Woodside has a community relations
strategy, one aspect of which
contributes significant amounts of
funding for regional programs, and
the support of Indigenous well-being
and cultural heritage.
The Centenary of Canberra’s support
of Hipbone Sticking Out ensures that
an important production is seen on a
national stage of celebrations, sharing
the cultural strength and gift of the
Pilbara. It involves the actor Trevor
Jamieson, who played the central
roles in Ngapartji Ngapartji One,
Namatjira and many other artists,
musicians and performers.
GOING FURTHER
••
Attend the performance of Hipbone Sticking Out.
••
Research the Burrup Peninsula—what are the issues?
What is the history of the area?
••
Visit the Big hART website: www.bighart.org. There is a blog that can be
followed as more work is done on productions by Big hART.
••
Visit www.facebook.com/pages/yijala-yala for ongoing communication
and updates about the production; also www.yijalayala.bighart.org.
••
Discuss and debate topics to do with mining in Western Australia; deaths
in custody; nuclear testing at Maralinga.
••
Explore personal stories and art work, using a range of forms and media.
SECTION 3 17