Toksave: Culture Talks

Johnny Obed and Kirk Huffman join Jodie and Steven discussing the cultural significance of sharks in Vanuatu and across Melanesia from the SD1 collection by Simon Devylder. The recordings inspired Johnny from Simon's research on shark spirits, shark attacks and the art of sand drawings. Through Kirk's association with Simon on such recordings and research work, it motivated him to share his long experience in Vanuatu, across Melanesia and the Pacific supporting the maintenance of traditional cultures in a fast-changing world.

Rak Mak Mak Marranunggu women Payi Linda Ford and Emily Tyaemaen Ford discuss the private archival collection LPF and the research journey through archival materials that lead to the creation of this repository of Murrunungu culture, language and history.

Prash Krishnan joins Jodie and Steven to talk about the JS2 Collection deposited by researcher and Professor Jeff Siegel of the University of New England, NSW. Conversations with Jeff have helped Prash to better understand his journey to re-connect his linguistic and cultural history of Fiji Hindi developed as a plantation language and his identity as an Indo Fijian of the Girmitiya heritage.

Following on from the previous episode, this podcast is a kind of blindfold test as we listen to a range of musical examples Steven has chosen from the MW6 collection, recordings Michael has not heard for 25 years. The ensuing conversation highlights the diversity and creative breadth of Tolai musical practices and their connection to the history and identity of the Tolai people.

When Sydney Conservatorium Associate Professor Michael Webb met Steven Gagau, they quickly realised they had Tolai connections and Tok Pisin language in common. It turns out that Michael did his PhD research in the Rabaul region where Steven is originally from. As PARADISEC digitised and archived MW6, Michael's collection of tapes and videos, Steven found himself wearing different hats as archivist and community member. Listen in to the conversation between the researcher and the Tolai.

Tom Johnny Obed is a Paamese man living in Sydney. He is an associate of Steven Gagau through the Wantok Association of Sydney, a representative body for Melanesian people living here. Johnny, as he likes to be known, met linguist Terry Crowley during his fieldwork on Paama Island, when Johnny was teaching high school in Vanuatu. Our conversation touches on language, education and music as we discuss Terry's recordings and writings, taking a moment to reflect on the gift he gave Johnny's people.

We are transported to the Western Desert of Central Australia as Pintupi-Luritja woman Linda Tjungkata Anderson listens to her father Nosepeg Tjupurrula singing songs from the Wanji Wanji public song set recorded by musicologist Professor Richard Moyle in 1976. These legacy recordings, held at AIATSIS in Canberra, were taken back to the community in 2018 by Dr Myfany Turpin. Linda's interview is archived in MMT1, a PARADISEC collection of interviews Myfany has made with descendants of such legacy recordings and the sound of her father's voice and his songs evoke Linda's memories of a time when corroborees were part of everyday life.

Grace Hull joins Jodie and Steven to talk about the RL1 collection recorded by Ralph Lawton in the Trobriand Islands, off the east coast of Papua New Guinea. Grace may live far from the village where she grew up, but she carries the village in her heart and this is very apparent as she shares her knowledge of Trobriand music and culture and comments on the value of these recordings.