Gapu Ŋupan
About
Filmed on Yolngu Country, North East Arnhem Land, in November 2022
Film by Aris & Grimes
Created and produced by Miku Performing Arts, Hui Jia Creatives, Kath Papas Productions & Artback NT
Gapu Ŋupan (Chasing the Rainbow) is an uplifting, large-scale performance that blends music, song, dance, immersive visuals and sound to tell a story that spans cultures and generations. Created by First Nations artists from Arnhem Land and Taiwan who share deep ancestral ties, the work brings forward Yolŋu narratives of ancient encounters, long before European arrival, when other nations travelled to and connected with Yolŋu people. It offers a fuller picture of Australia’s history and honours our place in a global story.
Designed for major festival stages, the production features an ensemble of eight Yolŋu and Paiwan performers including singers, dancers and multi-instrumentalists. Gapu Ŋupan is a fully self-determined First Nations creation, brought to life by Miku Performing Arts, Hui Jia Creatives, Kath Papas Productions and Artback NT.
The world premiere of Gapu Ŋupan commissioned by Asia TOPA Festival in Naarm/Melbourne was an event not to be missed, from Thursday 27th February to Saturday the 1st of March 2025 performing at Arts Centre Melbourne, this stunning production is the result of five years of cross-cultural collaboration and friendships developed between Australian and Taiwanese artists and producers.
This extraordinary production and performing team has completed multiple stages of deep development and creation in Australia and Taiwan and includes music producers, musicians, dancers, choreographers, sound and lighting designers, filmmakers and photographers and creative producers from Yirrkala in the NT’s North East Arnhem Land, all the way to Paiwan and Amis peoples in Taiwan.
Bringing it all together has been made possible through the relationships and work carried out by the four producers behind these stages of development being Hui Jia Creatives, Miku Performing Arts, Kath Papas Productions and Artback NT. The relationships that first sparked Gapu Ŋupan was born through Artback NT’s Indigenous Artist in Residence Program which provided artists from the NT to travel to Taiwan for 6 weeks to be immersed in other cultures, making exchanges and lasting connections through Indigenous artists and communities associated with the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park in Pingtung. This project was
These experiences were reciprocated for Taiwanese artists where they would journey to the Northern Territory and make connections through their artistic practice with people and in the NT. It was in 2018 when the successful artist exchange applicants Rachael Wallis and 桑梅絹 Sang Mei-Chuan would first see the birth of what was first a working title “The Voyage of Bayini”, before years later becoming Gapu Ŋupan, a name given to the production by Yirrkala Cultural Consultant and one of the show’s leading performers Banula Marika.
Created over five years of cross-cultural collaboration, Gapu Ŋupan has been made by extraordinary Yolŋu, Paiwan and Amis artists from North East Arnhem Land and Taiwan.
This project is created and produced by:
MIKU | HUI JIA CREATIVES | KATH PAPAS PRODUCTIONS | ARTBACK NT
Asia TOPA season
ASIA TOPA | ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE | CREATIVE AUSTRALIA | MINISTRY OF CULTURE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) | RIRRATJIŊU | SEABORN, BROUGHTON & WALFORD FOUNDATION | THE ROBERT SALZER FOUNDATION | THE MULKA PROJECT | NORTHERN TERRITORY GOVERNMENT
Development of Gapu Ŋupan was also supported by:
MAJOR FESTIVALS INITIATIVE/CREATIVE AUSTRALIA | INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES AND ARTS | DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE
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Cast & crew
Australia
Director & Choreographer – Rachael Wallis (Miku Performing Arts)
Sound Designer – Arian Ganambarr Pearson (Mulka Project)
Yolŋu Songman & Performer – Banula Marika
Musician & Performer – Ŋalkanbuy Mununggurr
Dancer – Loretta Yunupingu
Dancer – Ineke Wallis
Video Artist – Sam James
Stage Manager – Jess Keepence
Production Manager – Alejandro Rolandi
Lighting Designer – Karen Norris
Costume Designer – Peta Strachan
Producer – Kath Papas (Kath Papas Productions)
Producer & Tour Manager – Evan Saunders (Artback NT)
Taiwan
Director & Composer – Suming Rupi
Paiwan Songwoman & Performer – Seredau Taliyaran
Dancer – Piya Talaliman
Dancer – Temu Masin
Musician – Ljaucu Talimaraw
Sound Engineer & Music Producer – Cjudui Tjapalji
AV assistant & Video Documentation – Rangarang Curimundjuq
Translator – Nunung Puhay, Ljius Shiu & Yageh Yuraw
Resources
Reviews
★★★★ “… a gently uplifting collaboration, which is also an expression of solidarity through artistic expression.”
The Age
” … an uplifting and inspiring production, which says to me that we can all learn to be better, more respectful and more inclusive. Most of all, we can learn from one another, combining the best of what each has to offer to forge a better and more positive way forward. … What they have crafted breaks down barriers and opens the world of possibility.”
The Blurb