By Mr Jeffrey Aniba-Waia and Margaret Harvey
It is 2050. The last of our Torres Strait Islands has sunk beneath the depths of the rising seas. Culture clings to a lifebuoy. Is there anybody out there?
Gubal Thayemin is an important theatrical piece that speaks of a future when our communities have been swallowed by the waters that surround them. Climate change is real, so how do we bring our cultural knowledge and science together to understand the impact of what is occurring around us? Can we adapt and mobilise in time so that our cultural knowledge survives the depths of the rising sea?
The collaborators: co-created by Torres Strait, Saibaian elder, knowledge custodian and storyteller, Mr Jeffrey Aniba-Waia and his niece, theatre maker Margaret Harvey of production company The Jo Ze Sparks.
Gubal Thayemin was first presented at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) Opening Night 2018 as a 14 minute piece by The Jo Ze Sparks within the Torres Strait Islander Researchers Community of Practice, and the funded research project: Meriba buay – ngalpan wakaythoemamay (We come together to share our thinking): Evaluating a Community of Practice for Torres Strait Islander Health and Well-being. This research project was funded by the Lowitja Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research.
In 2019 QPAC was fortunate to host an intensive creative development period with the company to further progress the work. We are excited to be working alongside The Jo Ze Sparks in bringing this important work to the stage in 2020.