Acknowledgement of Country - Plain text version.docx
An Acknowledgement of Country is significant protocol for First Nations people. It is a way for everyone to practice cultural awareness and respect for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and their ongoing practice of culture and connection to country.
It’s important to consider how you’ll make an Acknowledgement of Country at your Fringe event, so here are some useful resources to help you out.
Check out this website from Aboriginal Victoria for more information, including some example Acknowledgements of Country you can use as a starting point.
You will also need to find out who the recognised Traditional Custodians are for the land on which your work is being presented, which you can do so using this map.
You may also want to acknowledge different Traditional Custodians from areas where your work was developed or first presented, and we also encourage you to pay respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. If you’re doing a digital event you might want to make a general acknowledgement and/or acknowledge the land on which your digital event was filmed or developed.
There are no set protocols for how to word your acknowledgement. Ultimately the wording should be a truthful statement from you and your team, to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land. Some people will take guidance from the above website without adding to it, and it is a strong message for you to communicate to your audience that you acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which your work is being presented, regardless of how you do that. However, some artists do choose to contextualise their statement by further acknowledging that the venue they are in was built on stolen land, and that sovereignty was never ceded and treaties were never signed. Other artists might acknowledge the 60,000+ years of rich cultural history from our First Peoples, and pay respect to the fact that the Indigenous peoples on this continent and its adjacent lands represent the oldest continuous living cultures in human history. Some non-Indigenous artists may acknowledge the privileges and benefits that they have inherited through colonial structures that continue to displace, disadvantage and discriminate. Many artists may choose to end their acknowledgment with an emphatic statement that this always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
For some examples of Acknowledgments that are far more detailed than those examples in the link above, see the Australian Centre for International Justice’s Acknowledgement, and The Equality Institute (although nobody is expecting a 500 word Acknowledgement from you – your task is to adapt these truths for your perspective, and to be delivered in the context of live performance).
The important thing about your Acknowledgement of Country is that it is from you. No way of doing it is “more correct” than another.
We do not provide a pre-recorded Acknowledgement for you to play before your show. We know that some other Festivals do this, but our community consultation continues to advise us to avoid this approach. The reason is that a pre-recorded set of words would be coming from us, Melbourne Fringe, not you as the artist. As an organisation we have various different ways we acknowledge country and pay respects to the First Peoples of this land, but this is your opportunity to do it, in your words and for your specific event.
That doesn’t mean you can’t pre-record your Acknowledgement though! You are welcome to acknowledge by speaking the words live, recording them, printing them, or any other way you feel is most appropriate to the context of your work.
If you are feeling uncertain about the wording of your Acknowledgement of Country please get in touch! Peta Duncan, our Deadly Fringe Program Coordinator, will be happy to provide feedback!
Peta Duncan: [email protected]