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The Black Arm Band presents music of the Australian Indigenous experience.
It is a creative meeting place for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists and producers to develop, perform, promote and celebrate contemporary Australian Indigenous music as a symbol of resilience and hope in the spirit and action of reconciliation.
The Black Arm Band has produced two major works to date: murundak (premiere Melbourne International Arts Festival 2006) and Hidden Republic (premiere Melbourne International Arts Festival 2008).
The Black Arm Band is described as "part Aboriginal soul revue, part civil rights statement . . . national treasures" (Evening Standard, 27 Jun) and is increasingly sought after internationally. The Black Arm Band will be returning to England for WOMAD UK in July 2009, after hugely successful international premiere at the Southbank Centre in London in mid-2008, amongst other critically acclaimed presentations throughout 2008.
The Black Arm Band also undertakes work in remote and regional Indigenous communities using the power of music to enhance community health and well-being. Partnering with The Fred Hollows Foundation, the Australian ‘superband’ of Indigenous musicians and their collaborators will tour to 9 remote and regional areas in Australia’s far north for performances, workshops and health promotion.
The Black Arm Band is a project of Arts House, a City of Melbourne contemporary arts special initiative.
“Up on stage at Hamer Hall on Friday night were some of the greatest performers this country can presently boast of, members of what is described as black folk protest, a phenomenon as significant to the national cultural life as Aboriginal art.” - The Age Newspaper, 30/10/06
