Ngapartji Ngapartji is the title of a theatre piece currently in performance in Sydney. It is ambitious, unwieldy, sometimes rough-edged, sometimes perfect. As a theatre experience, it is very powerful. It tells the story, in Pitjanjatjara and English, of the dispossession of Indigenous people by British nuclear tests at Maralinga in the South Australian desert in the late 1950s/early 1960s. But it has a global reach that encompasses Afghani, Japanese and Australian soldiers’ perspectives on atomic testing. It is told through dance, story, song and film. Hearing Talking Heads' Once In A Lifetime and Bob Dylan's The Weight and other songs in Pitjanjatjara is a unique pleasure.

ngapartji ngapartji :
I give you something - You give me something



Produced by Big hART, a group of professional artists, arts workers and producers who have been making work together for 15 years – creating theatre, film, television, painting, photography, dance, new media and radio.

Big hART most often works in small communities around the country, with people experiencing the effects of marginalisation in regional, rural, and geographically or socially isolated communities. Big hART experiments with the process of making art with such groups over three-year periods, honing the quality of their work, which is showcased in national and international festivals and media. This often creates new opportunities for participants, helps build skills in communities, assists regional development and helps foster a more inclusive Australian culture.

In addition to Ngapartji Ngapartji, Big hART is currently running a number of other projects around Australia, including Gold (Griffith and the wheatbelt, NSW); Lucky and No Comply (Tasmania’s north-west coast); Street Survivor (Melbourne); and Radio Holiday/Drive-In Holiday (north-west coast, Tasmania) and has recently completed the Northcott Project (Surry Hills, NSW) and Junk Theory (Cronulla, NSW).

Performance Information : click here
On now - Season Ends: 10 February 2008
Belvoir St Theatre
25 Belvoir St,
Surry Hills
Sydney

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