Song-writing and hip hop workshops at Nannup Family Fun Day hope to raise awareness of local language

The Shire of Nannup launched their Wardandi-language songwriting project and a Hip Hop workshop at their Family Fun Day, to bring the indigenous and non-Indigenous communities together to tell the Nannup story in a Wardandi and English song. The Go for 2 & 5, Nannup Family Fun Day was held at the Foreshore Park in Nannup, with youth health and wellbeing being the main promotion. The activities and workshops included rock climbing, a visit from the Nannup Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service, where kids could spray the fire hose, a tractor train ride from the Busselton Lions Club, and workshops from the Local Drug Action Group, the Institute of Indigenous Wellbeing and Sport and other community groups. The songwriting project’s main aim is to develop a deeper understanding by narrating stories of the past through music and the arts, whilst the community learn about the local Indigenous culture. Local cultural custodians Mitchella Hutchins and Vivian Brockman, together with Richard Nelson, brought the stories of the Indigenous language into the awareness of the South West community. The project will see Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities come together through the cultural song-writing project and give the community the opportunity to learn about the local Indigenous culture through song. Ms Hutchins and Ms Brockman hope the project will build connections and increase the interest and participation in cross-cultural activities within the Nannup community. “We hope to raise awareness of the local language and culture through song, to create a unique sound together with the community, as a voice of the people who are the modern Wardandi Nation,” they said. The final song-writing workshop will be on March 5, where the community will be able to participate in the song-writing process. First Nations rappers Scott Griffiths, known as Optamus, and Joshua Eggington, going by the stage name Flewnt, were also at the fun day to put a Hip Hop workshop together for youth aged 12 to 17. The workshop consisted of young kids participating in beat production, with beat making and electronic drumming, at the park amphitheatre. Optamus said the Hip Hop workshop gave young people a sense of belonging and community. “This high energy activity provides the kids an opportunity to come together in a safe space and explore the art of song and rhyme to tell a story,” he said. “Often these workshops build confidence, resilience and vocal intelligence.”