WESTERN FRONT – Talk by Peter Knight, Daniel Wilfred, David Wilfred, and Meredith Bates

Description:

As part of the 2024 Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Daniel Wilfred, David Wilfred, and Peter Knight of the Australian contemporary music ensemble Hand to Earth were joined in conversation with musician, composer, and educator Meredith Bates.

Daniel and David Wilfred are keepers of manikay, ceremonial songs of the Yolngu from Arnhem Land that can be traced back more than 40,000 years, making them the world’s oldest continuously practiced music tradition. To open the talk, they presented a short performance of vocals and didgeridoo. A fifteen-minute documentary Djuwaḻpada (2019), that features the Wilfreds was also screened.

Presented in partnership with Coastal Jazz.

Video documentation is available upon request.

A speaker stands in front of a blank projector screen in the Grand Luxe Hall, addressing a crowd. She clutches papers and a phone with both hands. She wears navy pants, a white top, white sneakers, and glasses. Her hair is dark and slicked back.

Two aboriginal Yolngu artists sit next to each other in the Grand Luxe Hall. The man on the right plays the didgeridoo while the man on the left creates rhythms with two short, thick wooden sticks. The didgeridoo player wears a gray hoodie, black jeans, and gray sneakers. His bandmate wears a brown t-shirt, red pants, and neon green sneakers.

An audience sits in the darkness of the Grand Luxe Hall, facing a screen. On the screen is the image of an aboriginal man wearing a blue t-shirt and a yellow and black cap while leaning against a fence. He gazes at the natural landscape before him. The image is captioned I’m a Wägilak man.

A panel of four speakers faces an audience, each holding a microphone. To the far right, a woman sits cross-legged, addressing the other three. An aboriginal man wearing black jeans and a gray hoodie is seated to her left, followed by another aboriginal man wearing red pants and a dark t-shirt. To the far left a white man wearing a newsboy cap sits cross-legged.

A man in a newsboy cap sits cross-legged as he speaks into a microphone. He wears a black t-shirt, gray pants, and glasses. White stubble decorates his features. Two men watch him as he speaks, facing away from the camera.

An aboriginal man with short-cropped hair sits in a black chair as he speaks into a microphone. He laces the microphone's wires through his fingers as he speaks. He wears red pants, a brown t-shirt, and a lanyard around his neck.

An aboriginal man with short-cropped hair holds a microphone up to his mouth with one hand and tucks the other beneath his arm. He wears black jeans, a gray hoodie and a lanyard around his neck.

An aboriginal man with short-cropped hair sits on a chair, holding two thick, wooden sticks in his hands. He wears red pants, a brown t-shirt, neon green shoes, and a lanyard around his neck.

An aboriginal man with short-cropped hair sits on a chair as he plays the didgeridoo. He wears black jeans, a gray hoodie, gray sneakers, and a lanyard. The didgeridoo appears to be covered in black duck tape. Several microphones lay untouched around him.

Captions:

Meredith Bates at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
David Wilfred and Daniel Wilfred performing at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Screening of Djuwaḻpada (2019) at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Peter Knight, Daniel Wilfred, David Wilfred, and Meredith Bates at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Peter Knight, Daniel Wilfred, and David Wilfred at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Daniel Wilfred at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
David Wilfred at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Daniel Wilfred at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
David Wilfred at Western Front, Jun 25, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.

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Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.