Annual Report 2018-19

AIAA Annual Report 2018-19

Emmanuela Shinta and the Asia Pacific Writers and Translators Conference in the Gold Coast
Following on from the highly successful AIAA presentation of Kalimantan Dayak culture as part of the Asia Pacific Writers and Translators Conference in Singaraja Bali in October 2017 which included the involvement of Dayak activist Emmanuela Shinta (along with Kalimantan activist David Metcalf), Emmanuela Shinta was again invited to participate in the APWT for 2018 held in the Gold Coast Qld in December. AIAA coordinators Judy Shelley and Dee Tipping supported Emmanuela Shinta by inviting her to Byron Shire to present her story.  Shinta spoke at Greens Party meetings in Brisbane and Byron as well as doing an eco-tourism visit to the Crystal Castle she  was supported with billeting by Judy Shelley .
AIAA volunteer Dee Tipping organized a very crucial “Camp Fire Conversation “a private gathering  at the country home of Linda and Christopher Dean. Emanuella Shinta presented her story of being a Young Dayak Activist in the face of massive deforestation for palm oil agriculture in her traditional home in Kalimantan. Invited guests included local rainforest conservationist Kelvin Davies founder of  Rainforest 4, Mark White who produced Rise of the Eco Warriors and young local activist Holly Somerville who set up  “Tell Someone Who Cares” among others for a film screening and talk by Shinta – this small but significant gathering of key people resulted in  Kelvin Davies and Christopher Dean putting their heads together in supporting Emanuella Shinta with a monthly flow of money to  her group Ranu Welum . This funding initiative means that funding channelled through Rainforest 4 will significantly support Shinta and her groups work in Kalimantan ! Well done Dee!!
On 21 June 2019 a further “Camp Fire Conversation” with guest  speaker Paul Daley who  recently returned from Kalimantan where he met with Emanuella Shinta and her young group of Dayak Activists. Once again key guests, impressed with what had been achieved so far, dug deep to help  bolster regular funding to Ranu Welum! Fantastic effort by Dee Tipping supported by Chris and Linda Dean plus the wonderful support of Kelvin Davies and Rainforest 4 Foundation!
Tikal Sermet and Agustian Supriatna Musician in Residence
During 2018 Indonesian-French singer Tikal Sermet joined the AIAA team and Radio Suara Indonesia – within weeks she was launching her own Musician in Residence Project by inviting Agustian Supriatna to visit Australia from Bali to collaborate with her band DMTFM. AIAA supported this project by providing sponsorship and Judy Shelley and Tikal assisted Agus with billeting at their home in Burringbar.
Tikal Sermet is an incredible singer/composer who creates sound healing and intuitive music with Craig McVegas in DMTFM – she organized two amazing events with Agus – “Ancient Futures” – a workshop and performance for Natty Dolaiasi in Tyagarah which featured Agus as one of the musicians and a wonderful performance of Agus in collaboration with  DMTFM- “Sound Temple”Indonesian music and intuitive sound healing concert in Mullumbimby.
Byron Harmony Festival 2019
Building on the last 13 years previous experience and with the support of hundreds of community members Byron Harmony Day 2019 was an even bigger success than previously with the entire event being presented in Mullumbimby Civic Hall again this year – for the second year in a row.
The Byron Harmony Festival program took place on the 27 April 2019 and was an even more extraordinary and exciting program than ever with 11 hours of performances and workshops including many new and exciting acts such as French musician Bobby Paquet, an amazing opening ceremony by highly regarded elders Uncle Magpie and Uncle Lewis Walker plus fantastic Aboriginal dances by 38 member-strong “Bush Ballet” from Murwillumbah, Angola Capoeira, Aloha Hula as well as our new headlining acts Yoyo Tuki representing Rapa Nui Easter Island, Natty Dolaiasi direct from the Solomon Islands plus the Batala Project – Brazilian Women Drummers.
This year the program once again featured a very strong program of Japanese culture such as Sakura Classical Japanese dance (Gold Coast), Kizuna Taiko drums (Gold Coast) Wadaiko Sho young drummers(GC) and a Japanese Parade led by the Waggaki Band coordinated by Japanese coordinator Mayu Akiba.
This year, the Byron Harmony Festival attracted the participation of about 300 performers and food/market vendors from many different cultures such as African, Solomon Islands, Indigenous, Easter Island, Thai, Japanese, Indonesian, Middle Eastern, Hawaiian, Turkish, Indian, Brazilian, French performers, volunteers and workshop leaders and attracted an audience of approximately 2000 local community members.
The event was opened by traditional song man Uncle Magpie, Uncle Lewis Walker and the Bush Ballet Dancers plus local MP Tamara Smith. We are very honored to have such wonderful support from Uncle Magpie and Uncle Lewis Walker.
Many thanks to coordinators Judy Shelley, Fabrizio Calafuri, Mayu Akiba, Tracey Darsana and the kind assistance of Jess Gilmore and Belle Budden from Byron Council and Penny May from St Vinnies and all other volunteers in the Harmony Team for all their hard work. In the lead up to the Festival regular Friday meetings were held at Byron YAC to plan the event together. Many thanks to Byron Youth Service for use of office space for meetings and to the Mullumbimby Neighborhood Centre for their support and use of venue space.
Special thanks to the team who successfully achieved a 2 year grant from Regional Arts NSW of $10,000 per year for coordination of the festival. This has been a fantastic support to Byron Harmony Festival. Many thanks also to Byron Council for providing a regular annual donation of $2000. Other sponsors include BayFM Community Radio, Kennards Hire, Vinnies and the Community Broadcasting Foundation who for the first time provided $2500 for a media tent/outside recording project involving BayFm Ethnic presenters Malikeh Michels, Yolanda Santiago and Yumiko Suzuki in undertaking live interviews and performances in the media tent which has now been edited down into a 2 part radio series.
Another very significant project of the Byron Harmony Team has been to sponsor and support the Solomon Islands Elder and Traditional Custodian Natty Dolaiasi to visit Australia to perform at Byron Harmony Day and other significant events such as the Kinship Festival, Festuri Festival, Moo Fest and others as well as participating in the BECOME project at Byron Multicultural.
Many thanks also to Sebastian Sinclair for his ongoing support in designing and updating the web page : www.byronharmony.com and to Judy, Tracey Darsana, Mayu and others for work on the Byron Harmony Facebook page.
KLUB Ngobrol @ Byron Services Club
During 2018 Judy Shelley National Coordinator AIAA continued to present the Klub Ngobrol – Indonesian Conversation Club at Byron Services Club to support local Indonesian speakers including Indonesian community, Indonesian language teachers, AIAA Board members and local activists. The Klub was held once a month in the meeting rooms at the Services Club and included many interesting and significant speakers and attendees from the Indonesian community.
SUARA Indonesia as part of Multicultural Nation Radio Show @ BayFm Community Radio
This year continued with the successful radio show Suara Indonesia @ BayFm as part of the Multicultural Nation Radio Show which goes to air every Tuesday @ 1-2pm – Judy Shelley Main presenter, plus new Indonesian presenter Tikal Sermet, Malikeh Michels Muslim presenter and the Japanese presenters Yumiko Suzuki and Hiromi Matsubara who present the Japanese Show every 4^th week along with Japanese presenter JT Rasta Samurai with “Smile Japan” every 2^nd Tuesday. The program presents many interesting cutting edge guests and interviewees– for more info: see Multicultural Nation page at https://www.bayfm.org and Multicultural Nation Facebook Page http://programs.bayfm.org/multicultural-nation/2019-07-09
AIAA Office Space at the Byron Youth Activity Centre on Fridays 
During 2018-9 AIAA has continued to make use of the office facilities at the Byron YAC every Friday for AIAA, Byron Harmony and other groups to hold meetings and other activities. Many thanks to Byron Youth Service for their ongoing support!
Byron Multicultural Group
Regular weekly meetings at the Byron YAC including Penny May Settlement Officer from St Vinnies resulted in the establishment of an informal group called Byron Multicultural Network which is working towards greater access and resources for the local ethnic communities. During 2018-19 the group has regularly held Multicultural Lunches once a month with between 15-40 people of many cultural backgrounds attending each month – the Lunches have also included performances and workshops such as Solomon Islands, Indonesian and African music performances, Aloha Hula workshops and knitting/yarn bombing.  AIAA has auspiced the Byron Multicultural group to acquire funding from Byron Shire Council $5000 to continue the Multicultural Lunch program throughout 2019 and to work towards incorporation.

• BECOME (Byron Emerging Community Of Multicultural Events) Project

With the support and auspice of Byron Youth Service, Byron Multicultural has also been successful in acquiring a grant of $10.000 from Multicultural NSW to undertake the BECOME project of Cultural Workshops including Indonesian, Japanese, Islander culture etc employing Judy Shelley and Mayu Akiba as coordinators.
Australia Indonesia Hub Facebook Page
Australia Indonesia Hub Facebook page was continually updated by Judy Shelley National Coordinator to share and promote Indonesian culture and environmental issues in Australia and beyond.
Many Thanks to the National Board
Many thanks to the wonderful National Board of AIAA John Lewis, Judy Shelley, Vera Kos, Dharma Bradridge and Cynthia Webb for their many years of dedicated support for AIAA and Indonesian cultural exchange. This year we welcomed three new members to the AIAA Board team : Bpk Dewa Nurjana (Gamelan leader and long -term AIAA Volunteer)  David Metcalf (Photographer / Kalimantan activist and long-term AIAA volunteer) located in Bali as well as Tikal Sermet (musician/singer and Indonesian radio presenter at Suara Indonesia/Multicultural Nation.)
Special Thanks to John Lewis AIAA Public Officer
Very Special thanks and appreciation to John Lewis who as a Board Member has been very active in supporting the National Coordinator Judy Shelley for many years and always being available to assist with signing correspondence, helping set up and pack down at events as well as manning stalls, attending and supporting all events etc
Thank you to our Sponsors 2018-19
The National Board of AIAA expresses sincere appreciation for the generous support of Bay FM Community Radio, Solomon Airlines, Byron Shire Council, Crystal Castle, Community Broadcasting Foundation, Regional Arts NSW, Byron Youth Service, Kennards Hire, CASPA, Vinnies, Tamara Smith MP and Dawn Walker MP.

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