January 23 – 25, 2014
By Shannon Boerner
Stepping out on
Friday into a rainy, Portland-esque night, we made our way down to the Sydney
Opera House for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Dressed in our very best after
explicit instructions to "scrub up," we climbed the stairs to the
entry under the tiled sails.
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| Before the performance. Photo set features one of many "selfies" we have taken on this trip. |
We saw Black Diggers, a production meant to
commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the start of WWI and reclaim the
relatively forgotten contributions of Indigenous Australian ANZACS. The play
was extremely intense, especially because many of us were in the third row, close
enough to feel every tensed muscle and see each tear shed by the actors. I was
on the verge of tears for the entire 90-minute show. The play explained how Aboriginal
soldiers in a sense became “Australians,” in that they were not marginalized
because of the color of their skin and they gained freedoms they were denied as
civilians. These soldiers became mates with their white counterparts.
After the war, most
Indigenous ANZACS found that even though they had returned home as changed men,
nothing had really changed. They had
grown, their brothers in arms had grown, but the world had not. There was one
monologue that really got to me. The man, enraged and disappointed, expressed how
he had fought for country and for those four years, the color of his skin did
not affect his social standing. But the second he stepped off the boat, Australian
society painted prejudice right back on him. He felt as if he had won something
over there and lost something back here in Australia.
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| A picture of the stage - words were written in white paint on the walls to establish the setting. |
Most audience
members were Australian and probably have deep-seated understanding of the tensions
and issues between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians from 1788 and
continuing today. As newcomers to Australia, we have learned the historical background
of colonization, but it was only on Thursday that we had really been exposed to
some of the Indigenous perspectives. Our guest lecturer on Thursday is an Indigenous
Australian academic. She taught us more about the varying Aboriginal Australian
cultures and also the issues that many contemporary Indigenous Australians face.
Having been in feminist theory courses at L&C and recognizing the power and
validity of each person's experience, I appreciated her coming to class to tell
us about her life experiences and research.
I honestly cannot understand
how Aboriginal Australians have been treated so horribly. True, we are in a
different time and therefore able to reflect on the past with the bias of
hindsight, but once you can see how many people continue to be affected by colonization
(displacement, marginalization, erasure of culture and history and so on…) how
could anyone deny these problems? Not that we don’t have similar issues
in the United States, but for some reason they seem far more pronounced here.
It is possible that my status as an outsider, coming to this culture from a different
one, has allowed me to notice it more clearly.
I am becoming
increasingly interested in the dynamics of the colonization of Australia. This
week we took a Dreaming Tour of The Rocks suburb, during which our tour guide shared
cultural knowledge. He showed us many places that are spiritually significant to
the Gadigal people and are now part of the big, modern city, like the land
where the Opera House sits, for example.
---
Fast-forward to
Saturday night and we were off to see a different production. This production
was not part of the L&C program and a bit more American than one might
expect: my favorite hometown band, Grouplove, was playing at Metro Theatre
on George Street. I've seen the band a handful of times before, but the Sydney
crowd was more lively and energetic than any other crowd. Ending up in the
second row, I had what I would consider to be one of the best nights ever. I
never thought that it would take flying across the world to get the opportunity
to sing along with the band, interact with the members, hold crowd-surfing
drummers and singers, and get a set list.
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| Grouplove |
Today, Sunday, is Australia Day, the national holiday. The
city is buzzing with activity including Aboriginal festivals, ferry racing, and
live music performances. I’m off to explore the city and find the best
fireworks! Best wishes from the 'land down unda!'
-Shannon
Note from the editor: Shannon is also keeping a personal blog. Check it out!
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