Shakaya star mentors youth as part of CIAF, Barkaa show at Tanks Art Centre

A chart-topping Far North artist is now mentoring the next generation of singers while also showing young people the power of healing through music.

A chart-topping Far North artist is now mentoring the next generation of singers while also showing young people the power of healing through music.

Simone Stacey, who rose to fame in the early noughties as one-half of the pop duo Shakaya, will return to the stage next month along with six budding talents as part of a special Cairns Indigenous Art Fair show.

The six young voices – Kiyani Namok-Majid, Kaya Durante, Georgiana Thomas-Peddell, Sara Van Gelderen, Abiuana Doné and Kyleja Namok-Majid – will open a Tanks Art Centre performance ahead of hip-hop talent BARKAA.

Ms Stacey said the group would perform a song they had written as well as a number of her own unreleased tracks, as part of the No Shame In My Game initiative.

Shakaya pop band duo Simone Stacey (left) and Naomi Wenitong (right) were best known for their debut single, ‘Stop Calling Me’, which achieved huge success including a number 5 spot on the ARIA Singles Chart in 2002 and platinum status.

It’s a Deadly Inspiring Youth Doing Good program but harks back to Ms Stacey’s grassroot efforts to engage young people earlier in her career.

“We would come home from touring about one to two weeks at a time and that’s when I started working on the ground with a lot of the youth, just volunteering time,” she said.

“I noticed there was a gap there for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in the streets.

“They didn’t really have anywhere to go to express their trauma and what they were going through.

“No Shame in My Game is my way of giving back … it’s a safe and supportive space for people to process what they have been through, connect with their emotions and freely express themselves through song.”

Kyleja Namok-Majid, Kaya Durante, Simone Stacey, Abiuana Doné and Georgiana Thomas-Peddell will take to the Tanks stage on July 27 as the opening act for BARKAA, as part of the songwriting program No Shame in My Game. Picture: Annabel Bowles

One of the six stars Georgiana Thomas-Peddell said her group was excited for the opportunity “to have what we say be heard”.

“We’re really excited to be performing at CIAF, some of the girls and I have actually performed at CIAF before so we’re really excited to be back,” she said.

“This is our first time working in Aunty Simone’s program, No Shame In My Game and we’ve actually written a song together … it’s about us and growing up together, that we’re more than what people see on the outside, there’s more to us.”

First Nations rapper BARKAA. Picture: Supplied.

Tickets are now on sale for the BARKAA and No Shame In My Game gig, which will be held on Saturday, July 27 at Tanks Arts Centre, presented by CIAF in partnership with WOW Australia.

CIAF will celebrate its 15th anniversary this year from Thursday, July 25 to Sunday, July 28.

To view the program or buy tickets, visit www.ciaf.com.au.

Originally published as Shakaya star mentors youth as part of CIAF, Barkaa show at Tanks Art Centre