Garma explained: What is a songman?

Thousands of people are travelling from across Australia to a remote area in the Northern Territory — at the top of the Top End in northeast Arnhem Land — for a four-day celebration of Yolŋu life, culture and conversation hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation at Garma.

The Garma Festival is Australia’s largest Indigenous event. The word Garma in Yolŋu Matha, the local language, refers to ‘two-way learning’— a meeting place where Aboriginal knowledge, leadership and ideas can be shared with the broader Australian community.

SBS and NITV will broadcast key forums, major announcements and cultural highlights, giving audiences access not only to the festival itself, but also to the storytellers, creatives, cultural leaders and communities whose voices make Garma such an important gathering.

There are people like Djakapurra Munyarryun, who you may remember from the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

This is how he became a songman.

Via NITV

Read more: https://bit.ly/3TtdDfx