Immersive First Nations audio-visual project Crown and Country invites viewers to step into a world of profound beauty and extraordinary ceremonial knowledge in vast desert landscapes.
The transcendental, reflective and deeply enveloping body of work was released worldwide via ABC Music and French label Akuphone earlier this month.
At the heart of Crown and Country is the voice of prolific Warlpiri philosopher, teacher and visionary, Wanta Jampijinpa Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu.
Hailing from the desert community of Lajamanu in the north Tanami, Jampijinpa is an important figure in contemporary Warlpiri philosophy and research, a leader in cultural education and community-based art, and an international ambassador for Warlpiri culture.
Jampijinpa joins his father, first contact Elder and one of the most important Warlpiri songmen alive today, Jerry Jangala Patrick, whose traditional singing grounds the work in Warlpiri ceremony.
Crown and Country strives to translate their deep intergenerational cultural knowledge into an immersive experience of music and film.
The project is the distillation of Jampijinpa's poetic, evocative and nuanced teachings of Warlpiri knowledge and culture, driven by his goal for Australians to embrace their shared heritage of Country.
It is an intimate conversation with a fully initiated Warlpiri man, inviting viewers to reflect on their relationship to Country, identity, and their own personal journey.
"Whitefellla dubbed this land as Crown country. The question is, which crown? Learn about the original crown of this country. The ancient crown. The emu crown. In this country we have been here a long time. This is what we want to do: to explain the mystery of Indigenous culture. With all the kinds of things that I like to put in stories, I'm hoping it will help people to learn about Indigenous culture" Jampijinpa told Style Up.
The album was created in collaboration with award-winning music producer and composer Marc 'Monkey' Peckham. The three share a creative relationship spanning 15 years in Lajamanu, working on the innovative community-based Milpirri Festival.
Inspired by early 2000s Berlin electronica meets rhythm & sound minimal dub techno, the music of Crown and Country is steeped in Peckham's signature hypnotic dub-infused grooves: a sonic journey through a brooding, meditative, synth-laden soundscape.
The album encapsulates years of recordings of conversations between Jampijinpa and Peckham, and these discussions reflect their deep friendship.
Crown and Country has been brought to life as a film with filmmaker James Gillot shooting Jampijinpa, Jerry Jangala and their grandson/great-grandson Keshawn Patrick on Warlpiri country, with support from filmmaker Jeff Bruer.
The film will be shown as part of Darwin Festival before travelling to Melbourne to screen as part of the interdisciplinary art festival Now or Never in late August.
Crown and Country is foremost sharing profound Warlpiri knowledge, while also offering listeners the opportunity to experience the point of view of a deep friendship and respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
At a critical turning point for desert communities as the last Warlpiri Elders who grew up in a traditional lifestyle remember their first contact with colonial Australia and the next generations look to find meaning, 'Crown and Country' is a quietly charged offer of reconciliation, belonging, and re-imagining of a shared future.
Including an artist talk, Crown and Country will premiere at Darwin Festival's opening weekend, followed by a community screening in Lajamanu, NT and a film screening and artist talk at Melbourne's Now or Never Festival.
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