The Australian Bite

Farewell to a Diva & Aboriginal seafarers

14 October 2010

Listen and download: MP3

This week on the Australian Bite, New Zealand Soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa talks about the legacy of the late Australian opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland, who died in Switzerland on October 10.  We check out a exhibition at Sydney’s Mitchell library that tells the many and varied stories of aboriginal seafarers. And with the anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings just passed, we’ll hear how a small group of survivors is campaigning for the site of the former Sari Club to be turned into a peace park.

Mari Nawi – stories of Aboriginal seafarers

You may have heard about Bennelong – an Iora man and one of the first Aboriginal people to live with the European settlers – who in 1792 sailed to England with the Governor of New South Wales Arthur Phillip. But you probably haven’t heard the story about five Aboriginal adventurers who left their home in Nowra New South Wales, sailed to Tasmania and later helped settler John Batman establish what would come to be the cities of Melbourne and Geelong. That’s just one of the many fascinating stories brought to life in Mari Nawi, a new exhibition at Sydney’s Mitchell Library which explores the significant role of Aboriginal seafarers in Australia’s early maritime history. Rihanna Patrick finds out more from the Mitchell Library’s Melissa Jackson.

This interview was originally broadcast on ABC local radio’s Speaking Out program

Mari Nawi webpage at the State Library of New South Wales

Call for “Peace Park” at Bali bombings site

On 12 October 2002, two hundred and two people were killed, and a further two hundred and forty were injured, when suicide bombers detonated bombs in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. Last Tuesday, survivors of the Bali bombing marked the anniversary with a ceremony at the scene of the attack in Kuta. And a small group is still struggling to establish a peace park on the site of the Sari Club, which bore the brunt of the biggest blast. As Indonesia correspondent Matt Brown reports, they’ve just released the results of a new study to demonstrate the merits of building the park, but it won’t be easy.

You can read a transcript of this interview here at ABC Radio’s AM current affairs program.

The legacy of “La Stupenda” – Dame Joan Sutherland dies aged 83.

Luciano Pavarotti famously described her voice as the greatest of the 20th century: Dame Joan Sutherland – a giant of the opera world – has died in Switzerland at the age of 83. Dame Joan was born in Australia and took her first major step onto the stage in Australia in 1947. In 1952 she made her debut at London’s Covent Garden. She sang at the Sydney Opera House when it opened in 1973, and bowed out with her final series of concerts there in 1990. She was married to musician and conductor Richard Bonynge for 56 years, and had recently had been in poor health following a fall. New Zealand diva and fellow soprano, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, speaks with Ross Solly about Dame Joan’s lasting legacy.

ABC News Factbox on Dame Joan Sutherland

Music: Ash Grunwald

We hear a track from one of Australia’s best blues guitarists, Ash Grunwald.   From his current album Hot Mama Vibes, this is Lady Luck.  Take a listen below.

Artist: Ash Grunwald

Track: Lady Luck

Album: Hot Mama Vibes (2010)

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