BIGSOUND UNVEILS FIRST NATIONS HOUSE PRESENTED WITH SPOTIFY WITH DREAMING LOUD SHOWCASES FROM EIGHT FIRST NATIONS ARTISTS FROM THE BIGSOUND50, ARTWORK BY DYLAN MOONEY, AND A SPECIAL PRESENTATION FROM MANITOBA MUSIC’S INDIGENOUS NORTH

There will also be a special performance presentation by Indigenous Music West at Manitoba Music. Filmed in Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg) and the traditional and unceded territory of the Kanien’keh:ka of Kahnawà:ke (Montréal), Indigenous North will offer electrifying performances and interviews for an intimate picture of outstanding artists from those regions, including Celeigh Cardinal, acclaimed country singer/songwriter Don Amero, Inuk singer/songwriter Elisapie, and multi-instrumentalist R&B artist Sebastian Gaskin.

BIGSOUND First Nations House is also honoured to feature artwork by Dylan Mooney: a Yuwi man from Mackay, central Queensland, Torres Strait Islander from Darnley Island and Badu Island and Australian born South Sea Islander. “This artwork represents the importance of music for Indigenous peoples,” said Dylan, “our people create songs to tell stories, to share our cultural knowledge and to bring awareness to the wider community.”

The newly-added BIGSOUND First Nations House programming sits alongside the already-announced First Nations conference program line up in what is an outstanding and unique representation of the music, voices, conversations and issues faced by Indigenous and First Nations communities and artists today.

“As the industry re-futures, it is imperative that spaces like BIGSOUND and Spotify support, promote and celebrate Indigenous artists and the music they make,” said First Nations Producer and Programmer, Alethea Beetson.

“In a time where there has been a resurgence of Black Lives Matter, which has long been the Black Deaths in Custody movement in so-called Australia, the BIGSOUND First Nations conversations address the issues of systemic racism in the music industry by offering Indigenous led solutions to some of the now common problems we are facing in 2020, and beyond.”

Included in the conference program, Kev Carmody will host a keynote presentation titled “Cannot Buy My Soul”; Ziggy Ramo and Rhoda Roberts will discuss the future of the music industry from a place of sovereignty, truth-telling and change for “100% BLAK: The Indigenous Future Of The Music Industry”.

“Beyond the Black Tile” will feature Dameeeela, Busty Beatz and more for an honest discussion between people of colour and the music sector about performative allyship and real reparations from the music industry with pathways and suggestions on how to dismantle and reform the systems from within; and “Cultural Resurgence” will tackle the importance of storytelling and culture in and through music with artists Dr Lou Bennett, Gina Williams, Jeremy Dutcher and Thomas E.S. Kelly.

Other BIGSOUND First Nations Conversations include: “Pay The Rent; Can ‘Quotas’ Lead to Reparations?“, a Keynote with “Maimouna Youssef AKA Mumu Fresh“, “Rest Is Revolution: When Self-Care Is More Than A Buzzword, It Is Survival“, and “Community>Industry: The Application Of Indigenous Knowledges in the Music Sector“.

FREE registration for BIGSOUND 2020 is still open, and the full program schedule is available now at www.bigsound.org.au