Archibald Prize winner Blak Douglas has been appointed Indigenous Artist-in-Residence at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Bringing more than two decades of experience as a musician, visual artist and cultural educator to a role that will introduce students to First Nations musical traditions, techniques and cultural knowledge, this is an exciting new role for the artist.

Known for his bold, politically charged paintings, Douglas is also an accomplished yidaki (didgeridoo) player who has performed with Bangarra Dance Theatre and travelled to Arnhem Land to deepen his understanding of the instrument's cultural origins.

"I've been playing the didgeridoo for as long as I've been painting," Douglas said.

"I understand I am the first person to hold the Indigenous Artist-in-Residence position with a didgeridoo, and that makes it particularly meaningful to me. I often tell the young First Nations people I work with that, alongside the difficulties we face, there are so many 'firsts' still to be created."

At the Conservatorium, Douglas plans to introduce the students to the yidaki's distinctive rhythmic language, circular breathing techniques and complex musical structures, challenging assumptions about an instrument sometimes misunderstood as producing a single note.

Yidaki is the Yolŋu name for the instrument from north-east Arnhem Land, while didgeridoo is a later English term thought to imitate the instrument's distinctive rhythmic sound.

"I am looking forward to talking to the students about the mind-boggling physics of the instrument. It may seem basic because it's a monotone instrument, but the playing style is complex," Douglas said.

"It's one of the world's oldest aerophones. It speaks to the landscape and everything in it. The instrument is much more than a way to make interesting sounds."

Douglas also wants students to understand that learning the instrument is inseparable from understanding the culture from which it comes.

"First and foremost, it's about identifying the origins of the instrument," he said.

Born in Blacktown, Western Sydney, and a descendant of the Dhanggati people in Kempsey, Douglas became the first Aboriginal artist to win the Archibald Prize in 2022 with Moby Dickens, a portrait of fellow artist Karla Dickens.

While visual art has brought him national recognition, music has been an equally important part of his creative and personal life.

An encounter with Bangarra Dance Theatre in the late 1990s introduced him to musicians from Arnhem Land. He later travelled north to learn more about the yidaki and its place within Yolŋu culture.

Douglas hopes to share the knowledge he has gathered through decades of performance, collaboration and learning from other musicians and cultural custodians.

"I would never claim to be an expert in an instrument with Yolŋu cultural origins. What I can do is share the knowledge I've gathered over 26 years of playing and the different styles I've had the privilege of encountering. I hope to shape that into something valuable for students," he said.

Douglas joins the Conservatorium's Indigenous Artists-in-Residence program, established in 2021 to bring leading First Nations musicians and cultural practitioners into the life of the institution.

Associate professor Damien Ricketson said Douglas's appointment would encourage students to think more deeply about the relationship between music and culture.

"For our students, this is an opportunity to consider ways of understanding music in which sound, language, Country and cultural responsibility are intimately connected," Associate professor Ricketson said.

Douglas is keen to mentor Indigenous students and help develop more sustained teaching around the yidaki and its cultural significance.

"In traditional Law, access to knowledge depends on the initiation ceremonies they've gone through and the status they've reached in the community," he said.

"I think it's important to be respectful of that. I don't want to give everything away in one go; I'd rather introduce material thoughtfully and build on it over time," he said.

"After graduating from the Con, the students should leave with some fundamentals of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and musicology."

Professor Anna Reid, Dean of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, said Douglas's appointment would bring new cultural perspectives into the Conservatorium's teaching.

"Having artists like Blak Douglas working directly with our students enriches their experience and helps build a Conservatorium that is genuinely connected to the cultures and communities around us," Professor Reid said.

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