Songlines and song traditions have been a core element of First Nations culture for thousands of years. Considered to maintain the oral history of First Nations peoples, the important and sacred nature of such navigational tracks and threads has not waned as society has progressed into the contemporary landscape we live in today.
Yet, Songlines and song traditions are not the same in their definition and within each lay a great degree of nuance and cultural understanding that the contemporary Australian music and arts industries must understand.
At a base level, how do we define ‘Songlines’ and ‘song traditions’? And from there, how do these terms differ when it comes to traditional ownership over songs, and the songlines themselves?
Knowledge holders gather to discuss the relationship of Songlines, song traditions and the contemporary music space; how the fusion of the two has its direct and indirect effects on the traditional process, and vice versa. Touching on the evolution on First Nations country music and First Nations hip hop, from their respective origins in decades past, to the current wave of First Nations storytellers pushing the genres into new territory.
Attendees will learn about the connections and intersections between traditional and modern forms of storytelling, as well as the importance of First Nations song men and song women; the messengers and holders of such an intricate and vast catalogue of stories that are passed from generation to generation.
