OUR WORDS returns to Adelaide Festival Centre with a line-up of First Nations poets, writers, creatives and thought leaders for two days of free live panels designed to contemplate, provoke and inspire.
Running from Friday 31 July to Saturday 1 August in the Centre’s Artspace, the sessions form part of BIGGEST MOB, Adelaide Festival Centre’s largest First Nations program to date, marking OUR MOB’s milestone 20th anniversary. All sessions are free, with registrations encouraged.
Friday 31 July
The Stories We Tell opens the program on Friday evening, with award-winning theatre maker and choreographer Jacob Boehme joining First Nations Programming Executive and OUR WORDS curator Celia Coulthard. Together they’ll unpack how to bring family lore to the stage with integrity and nuance. A cultural leader from the Narungga and Kaurna Nations, Boehme is known for bold, multidisciplinary work that moves across stage, screen and large-scale public ceremony. His State Theatre Company show Logan St runs in Space Theatre until 8 August as part of BIGGEST MOB.
Saturday 1 August
Art for Thought (10am) celebrates landmark First Nations visual arts publication Blue Art Journal. Flinders University’s Associate Professor in Critical Indigenous Studies Ali Gumillya Baker sits down with editor Timmah Ball and contributors Dominic Guerrera and James Tylor to discuss how the publication is shifting the way we think and talk about art through a lens shaped by Indigenous voice and creativity.
Mother Tongue (11:30am) brings together First Nations creatives to talk with multidisciplinary artist Sonya Rankine about how language speaks through their creative practice. The panel features contemporary artist and designer Susie Betts, poet Jayda Wilson, language and culture preservation advocate Ema Bovoro, and Karina Lester from Adelaide University’s Mobile Language Team, discussing how languages have been woven into Country since the first sunrise.
Fed by Country (1:30pm) pulls up a seat at the kitchen table with food and wine entrepreneur Pauly Vandenbergh (Tjindu Foundation, Munda Wines and Wonna Mar), teacher, artist and Warndu co-founder Damien Coulthard, and Nornie Bero, one of the country’s leading voices in Indigenous food. A chef of 30 years with two cookbooks and SBS series Island Echoes, Bero joins the conversation about growing, cooking and eating.
Matters of the Heart (3pm) rounds out the day with a yarn and a laugh. Award-winning writers Skye Cusack, Beau Windon (Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024 finalist) and Yvonne Weldon (author and the first Aboriginal councillor in the City of Sydney’s history) join Courtney Jaye to talk Blak love, joy and romance.
Make a day of it
“The best way to experience OUR WORDS is to immerse yourself, starting with Friday night, then settle in for the full Saturday line-up,” says curator Celia Coulthard. “From language to food to Blak love, with a break between each to grab a bite and a drink at Riverbank Café and check out our BIGGEST MOB exhibitions. This is First Nations storytelling at its best: honest, funny, moving, and made to be shared.”
BIGGEST MOB runs from July to October at Adelaide Festival Centre, featuring theatre performances, literary programs, a free family day, multiple exhibitions and more.
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