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DFAT News Article: Freshwater in the Middle East
Indigenous performing group, Freshwater, toured the Middle East in January and February 2008. Composed of four young, Indigenous women from New South Wales, Freshwater play a mix of contemporary and traditional music, including some songs in their traditional languages. Cairo coordinated the regional tour which covered Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Lebanon and Kuwait.
In Cairo, Freshwater performed on nine separate occasion at four different venues, including the Mamluke-era Al Ghouri theatre, the InterContinental Hotel, and the official residence. However, the highlight was a performance at the opening night of the Corroboree exhibition at the Egyptian Museum. Where, as one of the girls put it, their voices reached out “to wake the mummies” from their slumber in the eerie, darkness of the Museum at night.
The highlight of Freshwater's brief stop in Abu Dhabi was their performance at the Australia Day reception, held at the Ambassador's Residence. Freshwater entertained the 800 strong crowd for almost an hour, eliciting a very positive response from guests, including the UAE's Minister for Environment and Water and the visiting Western Australian Minister for Agriculture.
In Amman, Freshwater charmed 400 Australia Day guests with their music and a memorable introduction to Australia’s Indigenous culture. The group spoke eloquently to local journalists who were curious about their experiences as young, Indigenous women and impressed by their independence: “where are the men?”, they were asked. A highlight for the group was being whisked through the heaviest snowstorm in years by Jordanian royal military vehicles to give a command performance for HRH Prince Hassan, who had heard of Freshwater’s Australia Day performance. The group spent several hours discussing inter-cultural and Indigenous issues with the Prince, who heads the Al-Hassan Majlis thinktank.
Freshwater performed for several nights in Lebanon at an intimate venue donated by the American University of Beirut. Guests from a wide cross-section of Lebanese society, including Ambassador Makkawi, President of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, were fascinated by the languages, moved by the harmonies and delighted by the stories the group told between songs. The group’s performance was covered by a satellite television station and praised in local press.
In Kuwait, Freshwater pleased audiences over three performances. Their performance at the Australian National Day brought Indigenous Australian music to Kuwait for the first time and coincided with the Australian Government apology of the same day. Freshwater also performed for Kuwaiti students of Box Hill College Kuwait; an Australian institution keen to show off Australian culture to its students. The final performance of Freshwater’s Middle East tour took place at Ali Al-Salem Airbase where the group entertained coalition troops serving in Kuwait including troops from Australia, the USA, Japan and Korea.
We hope to see Freshwater in the Middle East again soon.
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