Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
The University of Sydney Library acknowledges that our buildings, collections, and practices exist on unceded Aboriginal lands. We recognise the diversity and knowledges of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and students across all the lands the University stands on, and respect the ongoing connection Aboriginal people have to these lands, their cultural practices, knowledge systems and histories. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present, who have handed down custodianship to each generation for more than 60,000 years.
Money, J. (2021). Yilabara (Now). Filmed on Gadigal Country. Commissioned by the University of Sydney Library
Resilient Resonance exhibition at the Conservatorium Library
Starr Abelardo installing her exhibition at the Conservatorium Library
“Diverse and widespread, Philippine bamboo music is crucial both for cultural maintenance and socio-economic survival, such as for the Talaandig indigenous community in Bukidnon.”
Each semester, the Library works with a Conservatorium of Music researcher to showcase their work in the Conservatorium library’s exhibition space. Following a competitive application process, Starr Abelardo's proposal, informed by her fieldwork with the Talaandig community in the Philippines, was chosen.
Starr Abelardo is a PhD candidate at the Conservatorium, as well as a casual academic and research assistant. Her exhibition is entitled Resilient Resonance: Placing Bamboo at the Intersection of Culture and Nature and the Case of Philippine Bamboo Music. It explores how Philippine bamboo music redefines resilience by blurring the dichotomies of tradition/innovation, foreign/local, and culture/commodity. Bamboo honours the varying degrees of interconnection and interdependence between these elements, cultivating a deeper understanding of the nuances in music-cultures. The resilient resonances of bamboo music intertwine with the Talaandig community’s reverence towards nature, economic pursuits, and tenacity to reaffirm their identity according to their own terms.
The exhibition features a range of bamboo musical instruments, artworks from the Talaandig community, and related publications. Visitors can scan QR codes to listen to examples of the displayed bamboo instruments being played.
Resilient Resonance will be on display at the Conservatorium Library until October 2024.
Starr Abelardo installing her exhibition at the Conservatorium Library
Resilient Resonance on display at the Conservatorium Library