IN AN incredible celebration of Indigenous culture, the Yarruwala Wiradjuri Cultural Festival officially launched at Griffith Art Gallery on Saturday night.
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There were traditional dances and hip-hop performances from Aboriginal youth, native tongue spoken by Aboriginal elders, and internationally-acclaimed Stan Grant returned home to speak at the launch.
"This is an important festival and a chance for us to tell our stories, share our culture, our heritage and our language," Mr Grant explained.
"It's also a show of strength and survival. I think it's important for the community to see this is a living, breathing culture and it's not something that belongs to the past, it lives in us still.
"There's a deep, deep history and it's a living history. I think the importance of things like this is that we get to share that, we get to tell that story and other people in the community get to be part of that as well.
"It builds closer connections between people."
The inaugural festival will feature a two week program packed full of performances, exhibitions, workshops and films that honour Indigenous culture across the MIA and beyond.
Burundi Theatre's Kerry Johnson played a crucial role in creating the media launch, delving into the rich history of Wiradjuri culture to showcase, celebrate and promote cultural strength and resilience.
"I really believe that I had to go all the way back to the beginning, to really give a solid foundation for the festival and for the community," Ms Johnson said.
"That was a vision that came out of my life story, my roots and also the roots of a lot of people near Riverina New South Wales.
"For a very long time I knew my history around Warangesda, I also know that Evonne Goolagong's mother was actually born in Warangesda.
"That kind of helped steer a lot of things as well, knowing those connections for a lot of people. Those connections are very important."
The world premiere of Sunshine Super Girl on September 7 will be the keystone of the Yarruwala Wiradjuri Cultural Festival, celebrating the achievements of living legend Evonne Goolagong.
The production is written and directed by playwright Andrea James, who has captured the story of a Griffith-born girl who dared to dream and became world number one.
Griffith Regional Theatre fought tirelessly to launch the premiere locally, after seeing extensive competition from a number of major cities.
"We really felt the launch needed to be here and the Aboriginal community strongly backed that," theatre manager Raina Savage said.
"She grew up here, this is where she comes from, this is her original country."
Yarruwala media launch featured touching conversations about Warangesda, the historical Aboriginal Mission near Darlington Point.
"It's an empowering experience, and that's what I had hoped to really do," Ms Johnson said.
"To empower and inspire our own community to take ownership in what Yarruwala will look like and what it will become.
"I feel that I've achieved that tonight."
The inaugural Yarruwala Wiradjuri Cultural Festival will run from September 26 to October 10.
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