Drug Aware YCulture supports Warburton community members
Regional Arts WA
I was lucky enough to attend NAIDOC week in Kalgoorlie, working with the wonderful people from Wilurarra Creative from Warburton—a remote community located over 900kms from Kalgoorlie in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. Sixteen Warburton community members were supported through the Drug Aware YCulture Regional program to attend NAIDOC week and feature in the program of arts and cultural activities.
Warburton’s Red Sand Beat Band brought their unique desert reggae sounds to play a free lunchtime concert. The weather forced us to change this from an outdoor concert to an indoor, but luckily the School of Mines provided the Graduates Hall, and around 200 people turned up to enjoy the talented young men’s songs. Many of Red Sand Beat Band’s song lyrics contain messages about living a healthy lifestyle, avoiding drugs and alcohol and celebrating culture, and it was wonderful to see these community role models gain wider exposure and have the opportunity to share their music. The band also took advantage of their time in Kalgoorlie to participate in radio interviews on ABC Goldfields and Tjuma Pulka 93.6FM.
In addition to showcasing the band, Wilurarra Creative held the launch of their youth-created art, fashion, photography and culture magazine Alanya. Alanya is an incredible achievement—a vibrant, modern and unique collection of youth-created art which glows with pride and displays the beauty of the Warburton landscape and community. Hot off the press, NAIDOC week was Alanya’s print debut, and was officially launched at a pop-up youth space in Kalgoorlie’s main street. This was an important opportunity for some of the young people who worked on the magazine to see their artwork viewed by the wider industry, talk to their public about their work, and gain contacts to increase their networks. Keep an eye out on wilurarra.com.au for Alanya online sales soon.
