Victorian NAIDOC Week Comes To Life at Arts Centre Melbourne

Arts Centre Melbourne will be celebrating Victorian NAIDOC Week with a range of digital content being released from July 5-12 as part of its Together With You initiative.

This VicNAIDOC offering includes archival performances of Jack Charles v The Crown, A Not So Traditional Story and an exciting Vic NAIDOC Concert; Always Was, Always Will Be, from Hamer Hall in partnership with Aboriginal Victoria, 3KND, VACCHO and Victoria Together.

Other features include recordings from Tell It Like It Is - First Nations Hip Hop Forum hosted by the Australian Music Vault, Australian Music Vault Long Play Series interviews with Dr Lou Bennett AM from Tiddas and legendary musician Archie Roach AM; as well as a range of stories which showcase the cultural impact of the First Nations community across the arts.

Jack Charles vs The Crown is a powerful one-man show that shines the spotlight on the incredible life of one of Australia's treasures. Uncle Jack Charles is an actor, musician, potter and gifted performer who has also been homeless, an addict, a thief and spent time in Victoria's prisons.

A Not So Traditional Story by Nathan Maynard delighted families last year when it was performance in Arts Centre Melbourne's Fairfax Studio. This production comes from renowned Terrapin Puppet Theatre, and uses masks, shadow puppetry and physical theatre to tell an important story of culture, identity, bravery and friendship. This beautiful and funny production was written by award-winning playwright Nathan Maynard, a Trawlwoolway, Pakana/Palawa man from lutruwita/Tasmania.

ACM's VicNAIDOC Week streamed content is as follows:

NAIDOC Concert - Always Was, Always Will Be - July 5 (More information regarding concert to be released later this week)

A Not So Traditional Story (By Nathan Maynard, produced by Terrapin Puppet Theatre - Available from July 6, 12pm to 16 July, 12pm AEST)

Jack Charles v The Crown (Available from July 10, 7pm to 24 July, 7pm AEST)

The NAIDOC theme for 2020 is 'Always Was, Always Will Be', acknowledging that Australia's First People have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.

Arts Centre Melbourne acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the place now called Victoria, and all First Peoples living and working on this land. Arts Centre Melbourne celebrates the history and contemporary creativity of the world's oldest living culture and pay respect to Elders - past, present and future.

Arts Centre Melbourne's VicNAIDOC program aligns with the commitment to create an avenue for First Nations artists to share their voice and in celebration; the spire will be lit to represent the colours of the Aboriginal flag.

While National NAIDOC Week has been postponed until November due to the impacts of Covid-19, we will still be sharing a program of digital content from 5-12 July to mark the original week. It's important that we celebrate the powerful Indigenous voices in our arts community. We will continue to share these stories, not just during this week but all year round.

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