Atlantica - 01.09.2004, Page 68

66 A T L A N T I C A MUSIC
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In addition to Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and Steindór Andersen, there will be performances by the organizer of the event, Buzby Birchall, a vocal performance by
Kirstín Erna Blöndal and Elfa Ingvarsdóttir, and the Ethos string quartet featuring Diddi Fidla. More information can be found at www.baman.org.
Tickets are sold at Salurinn at 5 700 400.
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From
Two Sides
of the World
Some of the best moments in music have come from the mixture of two worlds that were previously unknown to each other
On the 17th of September in the Salurinn music
hall, Yolngu musicians from the Northern
Territories of Australia will play at a concert
with Icelandic musicians, including Hilmar Örn
Hilmarsson and Steindór Andersen. Both
Hilmar and Steindór are well-known for their
contributions to continuing traditional Icelandic
culture through their music. The arrival in
Iceland of Yolngu musicians Mirrwatnga
Munyarryun, Yirryirrngu Ganambarr and
Ngongu Ganambarr represents a similar
attempt to preserve their culture.
There are sixteen different clans of Yolngu
aboriginals in Australia’s N.E. Arnhem Land and
numerous different dialects of their language
group, which is called Yolngu matha. Yolngu
culture is one of the oldest living cultures on
the planet and it has had minimal contact with
the outside world in comparison with the rest of
the Aboriginal population in Australia. Over the
past forty years, however, the Yolngu have
attracted international attention with their
struggle for land rights. Another aspect of
Yolngu culture that is even more widespread is
an instrument called the yidaki (or “didgeri-
doo”).
The preparation of the yidaki and how it is
played varies from clan to clan, but the impor-
tant role that the instrument plays in Yolngu his-
tory has been constant. Since multinational
mining has encroached on their tribal lands, the
Yolngu have spoken out frequently in favour of
protection of the land, a subject that resonates
in Icelandic culture as well with the recent
debates over the Kárahnjúkar dam project.
The arrival of the Yidaki players is unusual, as
the Yolngu people rarely leave their homeland.
During their visit in Iceland, they’ll be encoun-
tering terrain and natural surroundings dramat-
ically different from the dusty hills or eucalyp-
tus forests of their homes. Buzby Birchall, who
has been organizing this cultural exchange for
the past two and a half years, plans to take the
musicians to the glacier on Snæfellsnes where
they will experience snow for the first time. In
return, Icelanders will be treated to the yidaki,
played unlike anything they’ve experienced
before.
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