WELCOME
CEREMONY

FREE EVENT

Date & Time
Friday, 7 June
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Venue
Buderim Village Park

Kabi Kabi Country

(map)

Artists
Aunty Helena Gulash
Lyndon Davis
Gubbi Gubbi Dancers
Deline Briscoe

Topology

Artist: Lyndon Davis; Photography: EyesWideOpenImages

Join us in Buderim Village Park at dusk to pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians of the waterways, coastal plains and hinterlands of the Sunshine Coast - the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara peoples.  Led by our Festival Elder, Aunty Helena Gulash, and an outstanding line-up of performers, this special event will celebrate the rich cultural traditions of this land weaving together Indigenous and classical music genres. 

Don’t miss this moving blend of traditional and contemporary songs, poetry, and yarning as the sun sets over our magnificent Sunshine Coast. Bring a picnic rug, a feast to share, and the whole family! 

Artists

  • Helena is a Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) woman whose extensive career in First Nations Affairs spans almost 40 years. Currently Helena works as a Consultant in Indigenous Arts and Cultural Management through her own business - Helena Gulash Consulting

    Helena has provided strategic leadership in the various senior positions, within federal and state Government agencies. She worked as the Director of the Queensland Indigenous Arts and Marketing and Export Agency (QIAMEA) within the Queensland Government, National Aboriginal Education Committee (NAEC) and Assistant Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Queensland, - Federal Government, before moving to the Sunshine Coast.

    Helena is passionate about the potential of the First Nations Arts and Cultural industry to effect positive change for Indigenous peoples in Australia. She currently serves as a member of the inaugural Indigenous Advisory Committee to the Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA and is a member of the Sunshine Coast Arts Advisory Board and of the Vice-Chancellors Arts Acquisition Advisory Committee University of the Sunshine Coast. (USC). Helena has been involved in the establishment of several Indigenous community cultural organisations and has had a long involvement in Native Title research and in Kabi Kabi Native Title claim processes. She has been engaged in several key Arts & Cultural projects in the Sunshine Coast region.

  • Deline Briscoe has performed with some of Australia’s most celebrated vocalists, including Archie Roach, Lou Bennett, Paul Kelly, Shane Howard, Emma Donovan, Andrea Keller, Airileke, Iian Grandage, and has toured the world with two vocally exquisite ensembles, Black Arm Band (2008-2016) and Mission Songs Project (2017-2019). Wawu is the realisation of Deline’s creative vision, nurtured over the last 20 years. This stunning solo album collaborates with 5-time ARIA Award winning composer Andrea Keller on the stunning Sonrise, while the ethereal Tree (co written with Bart Willoughby, based on a poem by Kevin Gilbert), is a hymn to creation and nature. Reestablishing a 20-year connection with musical pioneers, Tiddas, Deline reinvents their Track Ignorance is Bliss in a hip-hop, jazz infused version that moves your soul. In her live shows, Deline’s vocal delivery has the ability to change hearts, minds and even change the weather. Interweaving Wulngkabadi (yalanji traditional singing) with a jazz, hip-hop, folk, soul infusion, her performances have wide appeal to all music lovers.

  • Gubbi Gubbi Dance is one of Queensland’s most renowned Indigenous dance and song groups. Gubbi Gubbi is the language spoken by the traditional custodians of the area. Artist, educator and cultural performer Lyndon Davis, a direct descendant of the Gubbi Gubbi people, founded the troupe in 1996, bringing together family members and local young Indigenous people to celebrate the dances of their homelands. They have gained a strong rapport throughout their community taking great pride in their culture and feeling blessed to share their knowledge. Gubbi Gubbi Dance provides an unforgettable cultural experience. Their magical presentation of song and dance leaves the audience spellbound and shares important cultural knowledge with audiences of all ages. Raised on the Sunshine Coast-Gubbi Gubbi country by his grandmother, Lyndon’s arts practice represents his deep connection to Country and depicts stories of his region’s flora and fauna and creation stories. He is involved in delivering cultural awareness to schools throughout the area. More recently he has been recognised for his outstanding visual art achievements, songs in language, and his innovative collaboration with Dr Leah Barclay in site-specific sound art, Listening in the Wild, which won the prestigious 2021 Award for Excellence in Experimental Music. Despite such impressive audiences as the Queen, the Dalai Lama and past Prime Ministers, a humble Lyndon Davis says, "what would have meant more than anything to me would have been to perform in front of my nan and uncles if they were still here today." Equally impressive is the recognition Lyndon has received from the Sunshine Coast University being awarded the Senior Fellowship Award to honour his services over the last fifteen years. Lyndon says he's driven to be a positive role model for the next generation. "I'd describe myself as a big fig tree - a totem that was passed down to me by an Elder. It houses animals, provides food and shelter, has strong roots and is well grounded.”

  • Established in 1997, Brisbane-based Topology are established leaders in musical creativity in Australia, prolific creators of new original work, expert collaborators across genres and art forms and award- winning music educators. With a well-established reputation for their signature work, the quintet experiments with surprising combinations of genres, theatrical staging, and cross art form collaboration to create thought- provoking music experiences for audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and tastes. Resident Artist at Brisbane Powerhouse for 18 years, Topology has an extensive discography, produced countless evening-length works, presented an award-winning concert series, and toured extensively nationally and internationally. The founding members of Topology are John Babbage (composer, saxophone), Robert Davidson (composer, bass), Bernard Hoey (composer, viola), Christa Powell (violin) and Kylie Davidson (piano, ’97-’11), with Therese Milanovic (piano) formally joining the ensemble in 2009 Topology are famous for the breadth and depth of their collaborations. Undaunted by stylistic barriers, the quintet has created stunning new work with partners in theatre (Geoffrey Rush, Neil Armfield, Queensland Theatre Company), classical music (the Brodsky Quartet, the Southern Cross Soloists), contemporary art music (Terry Riley, Speak Percussion), dance (Expressions Dance Company, Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, Jody Oberfelder), puppetry (Dead Puppet Society), contemporary jazz (Trichotomy, Loops), popular song writing (Kate Miller-Heidke, Katie Noonan), comedy (the Kransky Sisters, Gerry Connolly), Asian music (Dheeraj Shrestha, Ubiet) and indigenous Australian music (William Barton).

Aunty Helena Gulash

Deline Briscoe

Lyndon Davis

Topology