Three Generations, Three Songs celebrates Palm Island: Australian Festival of Chamber Music free concert

“We’re here to show that Palm Island is a really good place”: Three generations of the traditional caretakers of Palm Island will share their world with North Queensland through a free concert.

Nashae, Normey Jay and Gail Mabo will perform in Three Generations, Three Songs, which brings together three generations of the same Manbarra family Ð the traditional caretakers of Palm Island. Picture: Evan Morgan

Three generations of the traditional caretakers of Palm Island will come together to celebrate their island with the North Queensland community.

Three Generations, Three Songs brings together three generations of the same Manbarra family – the traditional caretakers of Palm Island – to share creation stories, traditional knowledge of place and personal reflections on what it means to be a Palm Islander.

Gail Mabo, Normey Jay and Nashae will perform songs they have crafted based on the traditional Palm Island stories in the outdoor concert — part of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.

Throughout the project the three have explored their own lived experience, consulted with their elders and engaged with the Palm Island family to bring the Manbarra Bwgcolman stories to stage.

Family matriarch and visual artist, Mabo, said the Three Generations, Three Songs project had taken her and her fellow participants on a journey of discovery as they developed a set of original music for the performance.

“My connection to Palm Island is through my mother and my grandmother and it’s been a wonderful experience to learn a little more about place, about people’s stories and how the two connect,” she said.

“The biggest thing is how we, as Manbarra people and First Nations people, connect to Country.

“We understand why it’s important and it’s wonderful to share that importance with the broader community through music.

“When people share an interest in coming together to listen to music, I think their minds open wider to new ways of thinking about the world.”

Mabo welcomed the opportunity to share the stories with a wider audience and present Palm Island in a positive light.

“It has been tarnished with a dark brush for too long. It’s time for it to step out to the light and say this is who we are,” she said.

“This is the people that live there and you know, we’re not scary. We’re here to show that Palm Island is a really good place.”

Deline Briscoe with Gail Mabo and Nashae. Picture: Evan Morgan

Three Generations, Three Songs has been produced by the Regional Arts Service Network North Queensland, in partnership with Gaba Musik.

Gaba Musik musician and Yalanji woman, Deline Briscoe, has mentored Mabo, Jay and Nashae through the processing of consulting family on traditional knowledge and language and penning the new songs.

She has also been responsible for fusing contemporary Indigenous music with classical music, to be played by members of well-known Topology band.

“It’s amazing to have these opportunities to work collaboratively on pieces that break down barriers,” Briscoe said.

“I feel like our older generations of Indigenous people don’t often get these opportunities, so I strive to include them in projects like this whenever I can. To have three to four generations, sitting around sitting around the table yarning and learning from each other is really special.

“It’s important for us to hear the story of Palm Island. I think one of the beautiful things about this project to is that all three of the artists involved have a strong connection with Palm Island as a member of the original people from there.

“I have a special connection with my grandfather being taken there many years ago in the early 1900s.

“He went back to the Daintree and married his promised one but his brother stayed and so we have beautiful biggest mob of family.”

Deline Briscoe, Nashae and Normey Jay.

She is hoping the audience connects with the performance.

“I believe the best way to tell our stories is through song because people can feel that connection.

“So I think music is a really important way to tell our story and always it’s received with an open heart.”

Catch the free concert at 6pm on Saturday, August 3 at the AFCM Festival Garden in front of the Townsville Civic Theatre, Gurambilbarra.

Gail Mabo, Normey Jay and Nashae will be joined on stage by Deline Briscoe, Airileke, Stephen Maxwell and musicians from Topology. Suga Cane Mamas will play a guest set at 4pm.

Originally published as Three Generations, Three Songs celebrates Palm Island: Australian Festival of Chamber Music free concert