Encouraging the artistic talents and achievements of Indigenous young people living in remote communities.
Through his songs and music, informed by his community and country in North East Arnhem Land, the late singer Gurrumul found understanding and purpose. Aware of his good fortune, Gurrumul wanted to encourage and support young Indigenous people living in remote communities to become more involved in arts and cultural programs with the aim of making a serious difference in alleviating the damaging effects of poverty, ill health and substance abuse, disadvantage, lack of education and employment opportunities, cyber bullying and youth suicide.
The Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation’s new small grants program directly aligns with Gurrumul’s wishes and vision as it will focus on encouraging the building of skills and involvement in arts-related endeavours chosen or created by the Indigenous young people participants and their communities, which will hopefully lead to future education and employment opportunities and the sharing of knowledge within the community.
For all the Gurrumul Foundation’s work, including this new program, ”the arts” is used very broadly to include the performing arts (for example, music, dance, drama, theatre, and circus), visual arts (for example, painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and filmmaking) and literary arts (for example, storytelling). The arts also include any traditional or non-traditional crafts such as weaving, sewing, jewellery making and so on[i].
How will the small grants program work?
This is an exciting new program for the Gurrumul Foundation, which aims to resource young people and organisations of the East Arnhem region through the provision of arts development grants. Cultural safety and relevancy will underpin this program through guidance from the Indigenous Board Directors of the Gurrumul Foundation and their representatives.
The key focus will not be on individual grants, although several may be given but rather on resourcing the greatest number of young Indigenous people through providing grants to their community organisations, the development of new arts programs or joining in existing relevant group programs and projects.
This program will support Indigenous young people (and their organisations) from pre-school to 25 years of age.
Application will be by a form which can be completed online or mailed out via Australia Post, and some grant applications may be by invitation.
Interviews when required will be held either on Teams or by phone.
Applications may require a supporting letter from the community which briefly outline the benefits to the individuals, organisation, and community.
Assessment will be undertaken by Indigenous young people, or their representatives supported by the Indigenous Directors of the Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation Board and the Executive Officer.
If required, support will be offered to the recipients of this program during the grant period, wherever possible.
A requirement of receiving funding is the completion of a report once the funding has been expended.
Further information and the application form will be available on our website in early 2025.
It is hoped, in future projects, to expand the arts development grants to other regions where young Indigenous people live. The East Arnhem region is the first location chosen for the program as it includes Galiwinku where the last singer Gurrumul Yunupingu was born and raised. The East Arnhem region is situated in the far north-eastern corner of the Territory and covers East Arnhem Land, Groote Eylandt and Elcho Island. The region is home to about 14,600 people, with major population centres in Nhulunbuy and Alyangula. In the latest recorded figures, East Arnhem reported the largest increase in the annual average unemployment rate, up by 0.7 ppt to 7.3%[ii]
Due to the Gurrumul Foundation’s small size, most of our resources will be directed towards this program in the coming years.
[i] www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/142afee1-f0b5-40c9-99b5-5198feb255a4/ctgc-rs28.pdf.aspx?inline=true
