Gudirr Gudirr Video

About the production

Gudirr Gudirr is a multi-channel video and sound installation directed by Vernon Ah Kee, developed from the compelling solo dance work created by Marrugeku and performed by Dalisa Pigram.

Filmed on location in the Kimberley, this stunning three-screen installation re-imagines the original dance performance.

The guwayi bird calls when the tide is turning — to miss the call is to drown. By turns hesitant, restless, resilient and angry, Gudirr Gudirr lights a path from a broken past through a fragile present and towards an uncertain future.

Considering the legacy of Australia’s history for Aboriginal people in northwest Australia today Gudirr Gudirr asks: what does it take to decolonise Aboriginal peoples’ minds, to unlock doors and to face cultural change? The installation calls a warning to a community facing massive industrialisation on traditional lands, loss of language and major gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous wellbeing. Drawing on a physicality borne of her Asian–Indigenous identity, Dalisa Pigram builds a dance language to capture this moment in time for her people.

Timeline

Broome preview:  Sail Makers Shed, Broome Historical Museum as part of Shinju Matsuri, 29 August – 5 September 2020

World Premiere: Carriageworks, as part of The National 2021, Sydney 26 March – 20 June 2021

Gudirr Gudirr is a multi-channel video and sound installation directed by Vernon Ah Kee, developed from the compelling solo dance work created by Marrugeku and performed by Dalisa Pigram.

Filmed on location in the Kimberley, this stunning three-screen installation re-imagines the original dance performance.

The guwayi bird calls when the tide is turning — to miss the call is to drown. By turns hesitant, restless, resilient and angry, Gudirr Gudirr lights a path from a broken past through a fragile present and towards an uncertain future.

Considering the legacy of Australia’s history for Aboriginal people in northwest Australia today Gudirr Gudirr asks: what does it take to decolonise Aboriginal peoples’ minds, to unlock doors and to face cultural change? The installation calls a warning to a community facing massive industrialisation on traditional lands, loss of language and major gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous wellbeing. Drawing on a physicality borne of her Asian–Indigenous identity, Dalisa Pigram builds a dance language to capture this moment in time for her people.

Timeline

Broome preview:  Sail Makers Shed, Broome Historical Museum as part of Shinju Matsuri, 29 August – 5 September 2020

World Premiere: Carriageworks, as part of The National 2021, Sydney 26 March – 20 June 2021

  • Venues and Dates

    2020

    Sail Makers Shed, Broome Historical Museum | Broome
    29 August – 5 September

    2021

    Carriageworks | Sydney
    26 March – 20 June

    2023

    The Substation | Melbourne, Australia
    FRAME: A biennial of dance – REALREEL exhibition
    1 March – 1 April

    Virtual Screening | Boulder Colorado, USA
    Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema
    1 – 31 March

    Musée du quai Branly
    Paris, France
    3 – 11 June

    2020

    Sail Makers Shed, Broome Historical Museum | Broome
    29 August – 5 September

    2021

    Carriageworks | Sydney
    26 March – 20 June

    2023

    The Substation | Melbourne, Australia
    FRAME: A biennial of dance – REALREEL exhibition
    1 March – 1 April

    Virtual Screening | Boulder Colorado, USA
    Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema
    1 – 31 March

    Musée du quai Branly
    Paris, France
    3 – 11 June

  • Creative Team

    CREATIVE TEAM

    Director Vernon Ah Kee

    Based on an original concept by Dalisa Pigram with Patrick Dodson, realised by Marrugeku

    Performer and Co-choreographer Dalisa Pigram

    Producer Bridget Ikin

    Dramaturg and Associate Producer Rachael Swain

    Co-choreographer and director of original production Koen Augustijnen

    Cinematographer  Emma Paine

    Composer Sam Serruys

    Singer and Songwriter Stephen Pigram

    Costume Designer Stephen Curtis

    Editor Darrin Baker

    Sound Design Liam Egan

    Sound recording Alan Pigram, Bella Kenworthy

    Production support Mia Timpano

    CREATIVE TEAM

    Director Vernon Ah Kee

    Based on an original concept by Dalisa Pigram with Patrick Dodson, realised by Marrugeku

    Performer and Co-choreographer Dalisa Pigram

    Producer Bridget Ikin

    Dramaturg and Associate Producer Rachael Swain

    Co-choreographer and director of original production Koen Augustijnen

    Cinematographer  Emma Paine

    Composer Sam Serruys

    Singer and Songwriter Stephen Pigram

    Costume Designer Stephen Curtis

    Editor Darrin Baker

    Sound Design Liam Egan

    Sound recording Alan Pigram, Bella Kenworthy

    Production support Mia Timpano

  • Reviews

    ArtReview Asia

    Naomi Riddle
    1 Jun 2021

    The rejoinder to this is that there is a work in The National bristling with its own tightly coiled energy. Vernon Ah Kee and Dalisa Pigram’s Gudirr Gudirr (2021) is a three-channel collaborative videowork, first performed as a solo piece with Marrugeku (an intercultural dance company) and subsequently shot on location in Broome, Western Australia. In
    read more…

    Broadsheet

    Jane Albert
    31 Mar 2021

    The outstanding project at Carriageworks is a collaboration between Queensland Aboriginal artist Vernon Ah Kee and Yawaru dancer Dalisa Pigram. Ah Kee has created an immersive three-screen video installation of Pigram’s award-winning solo performance, Gudirr Gudirr restaged against the ocean and on the streets of Broome. In her vigorous, fluid movements and spoken word, Pigram
    read more…

    Time Out

    Stephen A Russell
    29 Mar 2021

    And don’t overlook Vernon Ah Kee, Dalisa Pigram and Marrugeku’s brilliant video installation Guidirr Guidirr in Bay 19. A darkly comic laceration of racism in this country wrapped up in the astounding beauty of this continent, it’s one of the best films we’ve seen so far this year, and you’ll easily lose half an hour
    read more…

    A rich life

    Kirsty Francis
    20 Mar 2021

    Visual artist Vernon Ah Kee and choreographer and dancer Dalisa Pigram worked collaboratively on the creation of Gudirr Gudirr (2021), a 3-channel video and sound installation. Pigram’s choreographic style activates a unique form of storytelling that brings the traditions of Aboriginal dance and language, silat martial arts (Malaysia), the movement of animals and break dance
    read more…

  • Gallery
  • Supporters

    Commissioned by Carriageworks and Marrugeku for The National 2021: New Australian Art.

    Marrugeku is assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, the NSW Government through Create NSW, and is supported by the WA State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Create NSW.

In her vigorous, fluid movements and spoken word, Pigram embodies the anger and exhaustion of generations of displaced and disadvantaged communities in the Kimberley … a stirring declaration of strength and resilience

Felicity Fenner