Speaking in Shades of Black

Aboriginal culture is being reframed through a new appreciation of Indigenous language. When playwright and performer Jason De Santis created his debut work Wulamanayuwi and the Seven Pamanui, he was advised to shorten the title for ease of pronunciation.

He didn’t. A self-described proponent of ‘making yourself available for other art forms’ De Santis is committed to his language as an expression of identity. ‘I like to use my language as a power. I love the opportunity for people to learn.’

His enthusiasm for audiences grappling with the lengthy title, but still trying to master the correct articulation, and therefore discover his language, is evident. He believes language exists on a continuum, as an exchange between cultures, with reshaping and reframing identity always ongoing.

De Santis sees himself as both an advocate and interrogator, a spokesperson for the Indigenous community and a force of transgression. It is a delicate balancing act but De Santis relishes the challenge. ‘I feel like I can offer that bridge of understanding.’

For Australians of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, language expands beyond its utility as a method of communication. More than merely words spoken, language defines culture, shapes identity, traces history and establishes mythology. It connotes a connection and establishes community, whilst providing a link to the past and an expression of the future. Language affords the ability to reclaim ownership and reframe conversations, empowering the discussion around the indigenous perspective.
At the Australian Performing Arts Market, a panel of artists responded to the role of language in expressing their culture and forming their identity, specifically within the Australian indigenous context. Wesley Enoch, Artistic Director of the Queensland Theatre Company, launched the session with the observation ‘Blackness has been renamed, and renamed, and renamed.’

Participants noted that an appreciation of Aboriginal identity is in itself a new language. ‘Having the best teachers in the world, I was told that Aboriginality and identity as we know it has only existed for twenty years,’ shared poet and artist Lorna Munro. ‘Before, we were being told what to do, what to say and how to identify. Basically, the pride of being Aboriginal has only existed for a small amount of time.’
Munro sees the process of defining Aboriginal identity as a duty, particularly when coupled with the knowledge that such a task would have been impossible just decades ago. ‘It is our obligation to explore the many different shades of what black is. Now that’s a metaphor as well as a literal claim,’ she said. Munro also accepted the personal nature of such a quest. ‘No one can tell you what it is to be black, you have to find that out for yourself.’

The need to understand the ubiquity of language resonates for visual artist Vernon Ah Kee. ‘Language should not be separated from the visual. As visual artists, we should teach ourselves to speak as well we communicate visually, and to write as well as we speak. I think it is a waste when artists don’t talk about their work, or talk a lot and waste words.’

With a stated fascination for advertising in his work, and in the power individual words hold, the importance of terminology also resounds with Ah Kee, who believes ‘we need to reclaim as much as we can’.

‘When I was a kid, we were Aboriginal. Now we are Indigenous. But I don’t like to use that term as a word to describe me, it is too broad, and could mean anything.’ He later added: ‘We should be using the language that we speak with, that we write with, that we sing with. Exactly what we call things, that’s what we should be saying.’

Munro agrees, highlighting the reclamation of language, of certain words, as crucial to building a sense of identity. ‘I think it is very important to be able to put your own terms of reference to things, especially to words that have western connotations,’ she commented. ‘History is recorded in the eyes of the conqueror, so therefore what happens to the conquered? One way to deal with that is just to reclaim anything and everything important to you.’ She later expanded: ‘Our language has been there. A lot of colloquial terms that Australia owns that have their foundation in Aboriginal heritage, in Aboriginal language.’

For actress and director Rachael Maza, language and stories are obviously intertwined. ‘I am most passionate about claiming the space, and taking over our stories, and putting us up there where our stories have been dormant.’ Authorship and control must be also addressed in any reclamation attempt. ‘Our stories, our mythologies, and our histories are embedded in the language that we use. So, the way forward is claiming that space of defining who we are, who we are in our history, and therefore the future we are moving into. Being the author of that story is critical, key.’

Maza also recognises that the collaborative function of creativity can’t be ignored, particularly in the performing arts and in cinema, two areas that have been at the forefront of diversity in language and representations in recent decades. ‘The key to collaborating, of course, is who has control over the story. It is all about control and ownership. We negotiate that relationship. You stay in control over things, and you have ownership over that.’