Kris Schubert Creative Development

Tell us about the evolution of your concept through this creative development process.

Our concept moved from quite a broad starting point of wanting to look forward to a positive future for Wiradjuri people in our region, and narrowed in to relate more specifically to the upcoming 200th anniversary of martial law being declared in Bathurst.

We came to see this as a great focal point which let us discuss the past in a way specific to this region, and also to begin to discuss and think about what comes next as the anniversary approaches in 2024.

What experts/community members did you connect with during your creative development?

In my initial Expression of Interest, I proposed that Yanha would be the person I connected with – but he quickly became more central to the project, and it is now a shared collaboration.

Through his work at the university here he is regularly in contact with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students who are processing and coming to terms with their own thoughts and personal/family connections to the history of the colonisation of our region, from both sides.

This often difficult work became the starting point of many conversations as our ideas began taking shape. Working with Yanha also gave the project the privilege of having a direct line to the local Elders group (of which he is a part), which has allowed us to receive their approval for the project and permission to use traditional Wiradjuri language.

“Regional Futures has both strengthened existing ties to the local creative/cultural community, and prompted me to make new connections.”

– Kris Schubert

Describe where your work has reached in the development process and how you can see it progressing.

I have composed approximately 15 minutes of music for strings, electric guitar, piano and electronic beats/sounds which Yanha has used as a framework and starting point for both writing his own words and collecting excerpts of publicly available speeches. He has also sourced written accounts of historical events and the official declaration of martial law itself, and we have recorded him reading these. The challenge has been (and continues to be) the assembly of this material, combining and juxtaposing elements to best tell the story, and lead into the discussion of what the future looks like for our region.

I have shot some video of our recording sessions together. Unfortunately it has been harder to get together than either of us had anticipated which has been our major limitation. Emails and phone calls don’t make a good video! Continuing to work up this visual aspect of the work would be a great next step. Thinking through how this work (which was assembled in the studio) could be performed live to an audience is also an exciting thought.

If you were to tell someone about the impact of Regional Futures and this creative development opportunity on your practice, what would you say to them?

For me, Regional Futures has both strengthened existing ties to the local creative/cultural community, and prompted me to make new connections. My understanding of how to respectfully and appropriately work on projects which incorporate elements of traditional Wiradjuri culture has been greatly expanded thanks to Yanhadarrambal’s patient and gracious dedication to the project. This is something I really hope we can continue in future. The opportunity to apply my experience in song writing, arrangement and production to a larger/longer format of musical work has been very exciting.