About Hidden Republic
Hidden Republic is the second major project of The Black Arm Band and is the partner piece to murundak which was presented first as part of the 2006 Melbourne International Arts Festival.
Where murundak honours the music and story of Indigenous Australia’s struggle for civil rights, Hidden Republic turns our gaze forward.
The irresistible premise of Hidden Republic is that a vast reservoir of hope for all of us is revealed in the music of Indigenous Australia. There is great power in the musical possibilities of contemporary Indigenous musicians working alongside the peak western whitefella orchestra in the nation, side by side with trusted musical mavericks from Melbourne’s vibrant jazz scene.
Referencing Oodgeroo’s poem “Song of Hope” on its fortieth anniversary is a compelling way to locate this project historically.
With Hidden Republic we offer you a small part of an extraordinary songbook of hope – a collaboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra which offers a new future possibility for all Australians for another order of sharing, hearing and knowing.
> Read reviews of the Hidden Republic premiere
> Download PDF of Tracee Hutchison's 'Hidden Republic of Hope', commissioned for the Hidden Republic premiere, October 2008
