RISING Arts Festival presents a mesmerising live performance of Dr Gurrumul Yunupiŋu's groundbreaking album Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow), set to take place at Hamer Hall, titled Buŋgul.

The performance features Melbourne Symphony Orchestra alongside Yolgnu dancers and songmen, being held from June 14-15th, 2023.

Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow), the album posthumously released after the passing of Dr Yunupiŋu, is a pivotal moment in Australian music history.

Watch Gurrumul performing Djarimirri below.

The album serves as a transcendent-celebration of the life and legacy of Dr Yunupiŋu, bringing together the musical traditions of both his Yolŋu family and western orchestral music.

However, the music and album alone only tell a part of a story. Yolŋu people live in a largely connected world, connecting all natural elements of the earth through dance, painting, song, land and ancestral stories. 

Buŋgul offers a special performance that combines those different aspects curated by the Yolŋu people expressed through deep and poetic language, creating works that are equal to other high-quality art in the country.

A buŋgul is a ceremony, a gathering ground: a meeting place of dance, song, and ritual. Buŋgul, (also known as Gurrumul's Mother's Buŋgul, Gurrumul's Grandmother's Buŋgul, Gurrumul's Manikay), is a ceremonial celebration of one of the transcendent albums of all time and that record's legacy.

The work was created on Country in Northeast Arnhem Land, with the Yunupiŋu family and directed by Senior Yolŋu man Don Wininba Ganambarr and Nigel Jamieson.

"To the Yolngu, our songs, paintings, and dances are our books—they tell us where we have come from and where we are going," said Buŋgul Co-Director Don Wininba Ganambarr.

"They are our maps, our law books, our title deeds, and our family history."

For more information visit artscentremelbourne.com.au