Latest news with #culturalnarratives
ABC News
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Listening to Country with composer James Howard, and the Stiff Gins celebrate 25 years
For Jaadwa composer, sound artist and electronic musician James Howard, sound, Country and identity are inextricable. His latest release is a reworking of his score for Australian Dance Theatre's Marrow , a work which interrogates our dominant cultural narratives, written amidst the 2023 referendum. He also recently had his orchestral composition Nyirrimarr Ngamatyata / To Lose Yourself at Sea premiered by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The Stiff Gins are 25 years into what they hope is a lifelong partnership. Yuwaalaraay woman Nardi Simpson and Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri woman Kaleena Briggs look back at a quarter century of making music together, from their first meeting at Eora college, to the changing landscape of language and touring. Back in 2023 they chatted to Andy and performed two songs live in The Music Show studio. The Stiff Gins new album Crossroads is out now. And they're touring across Vic, Qld, NSW, SA and ACT. Find the full details here. Australian Dance Theatre have upcoming performances of Marrow in Sydney, Wyong, Albury, Canberra and Alice Springs. More info here. Music in this program: Title: Raki Part 2 Artist: Daniel Wilfred, Paul Grabowsky, Peter Knight Composer: Daniel Wilfred, Paul Grabowsky, Peter Knight Album: Raki Label: Earshift Title: Cycles Artist: James Howard Composer: James Howard Album: Marrow Label: Independent Title: Nyirrimarr Ngamatyata / To Lose Yourself at Sea Artist: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Aaron Wyatt (conductor) Composer: James Howard Concert recording courtesy Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Title: life doesn't move through time, time moves through life Artist: James Howard Composer: James Howard Album: Variations on Country Label: Independent Title: Happy This Artist: Stiff Gins Composer: Kaleena Briggs and Nardi Simpson Performed live in The Music Show studio Title: Burruguu Artist: Ensemble Offspring Composer: Nardi Simpson Album: To Listen, To Sing: Ngarra Burria - First Peoples Composers Label: ABC Classic Title: Bear & Bee Artist: Stiff Gins Composer: Kaleena Briggs and Nardi Simpson Performed live in The Music Show studio Title: Yarladhu Artist: Stiff Gins Composer: Nardi Simpson and Kaleena Briggs Album: Crossroads Label: Independent The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country
Arab News
05-07-2025
- General
- Arab News
July edition of National Geographic Al-Arabiya explores nomadic heritage, digital archaeology, ‘maligned' wildlife
ABU DHABI: The July edition of National Geographic Al Arabiya examines the complex interplay between humanity and environmental forces while highlighting exceptional cultural narratives and transformative global social movements. The magazine's 178th issue begins with an extensive feature on Africa's largest nomadic group, the Fulani — some 20 million people who traverse the continent's vast desert areas. These modern-day Bedouins continue their ancestral migrations with herds of livestock, journeying from Africa's eastern reaches to its western borders in an eternal search for water and grazing lands. The investigation examines how this ancient pastoral society confronts 21st-century challenges, from climate change to social upheaval, while working to elevate women's roles in their deeply rooted herding culture. A striking counterpoint emerges in 'The New Archaeologists' which profiles an unexpected phenomenon along London's Thames riverbanks — social media influencers turned amateur archaeologists. These digital-age treasure hunters have sparked both remarkable discoveries and heated debates over proper archaeological protocols. The feature captures an emerging conflict between grassroots passion for historical discovery and established scientific methodology in an era where technology democratizes access to archaeological exploration. The issue's centerpiece investigation, 'Our Maligned Wildlife,' challenges readers to reconsider nature's most misunderstood creatures. From the notoriously pungent and ferocious honey badger to small-eyed vultures and scruffy aye-aye lemurs, the feature argues these 'ugly' animals play crucial ecological roles — and that their supposed flaws may actually be evolutionary strengths. Readers then journey to Romania's Transylvanian countryside, where traditional farming communities maintain centuries-old agricultural practices despite mounting pressure from modernization. The magazine concludes with a photographic retrospective marking New York City's 400th anniversary, tracing the metropolis's remarkable evolution from a small settlement to a global powerhouse pulsing with life and renewal.
The National
29-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The National
Weekly UAE museum and gallery guide: Last chance to see acclaimed Louvre Abu Dhabi exhibition
This week's list of exhibitions are united by a common thread – textiles as mediums of memory, identity and power. Handwoven artworks created in collaboration with artisans in Afghanistan, raw silk panels dyed using natural materials and royal African attire and textiles symbolising authority, the works in these exhibitions show how textiles transcend their materiality to become profound expressions of cultural narratives and personal stories. Kings and Queens of Africa: Forms and Figures of Power at Louvre Abu Dhabi Louvre Abu Dhabi's Kings and Queens of Africa is entering its final week. The exhibition looks at the African continent's most revered and powerful figures, exploring the design of their royal attire, their sacred symbols of spiritual influence and more. The exhibition, which will showcase more than 300 objects from the collections of Musee du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris, will introduce African kings and queens who shaped the continent and how their legacy is still influencing contemporary African art and culture. The exhibited pieces come from cultures across the continent, as well as a range of time periods and include their detailed histories. Tuesday to Thursday, 10am-6.30pm; Friday to Sunday, 10am-8.30pm; until June 8; Louvre Abu Dhabi Naseej: Threads of Hope at Beeah Headquarters, Sharjah Naseej: Threads of Hope blends traditional Afghan craftsmanship with contemporary design and social advocacy. The exhibition is curated by Fatima Deemas and organised with the Fatima Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative, an enterprise dedicated to empowering underprivileged communities, especially women, in Afghanistan. Naseej showcases nine handwoven carpets designed by regional and international artists, then woven by women artisans in Kabul using natural dyes and ethically sourced wool. Artists taking part include Emirati artists Juma Al Haj and Nasir Nasrallah, Bahraini architect and designer Sara Kanoo, Honduran-born artist Adrian Pepe and the Beirut collective Bokja. Monday to Thursday, 10am to 5pm; Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 2pm; until June 3; Beeah Headquarters, Sharjah Garden of Murmurs: Malik Thomas Jalil Kydd at Carbon 12 Malik Thomas Jalil Kydd 's first solo exhibition, Garden of Murmurs, at Carbon 12, presents a body of work that the Iraqi-British artist produced over the past several years. The series of large-scale works blend painting, drawing and textile art, exploring themes of introspection and the many definitions of love. Silk has a starring role in the exhibition. Kydd uses raw silk panels that have been stitched together as his primary canvas. The silk has been dyed using natural materials such as sage. The gestural abstraction that charges the artworks has been spurred by various media, including oil, pastel, charcoal and natural dyes. Depictions of the male figure, rendered a touch larger than life-size, a dimension Kydd refers to as 'angel scale", is central to the exhibition. Through it, Kydd addresses concepts of material, identity and culture – while also coaxing a serenity from a background of destruction and death. Monday to Saturday, 11.30am to 7pm; until August 23; Carbon 12, Dubai
