Later this month, Guuranda X KMMC – a Narungga-led First Nations performance – will premiere in Chennai, India. A landmark cultural exchange, this production is a major international collaboration between Narungga/Kaurna Artistic Director, Jacob Boehme, and Chennai-based institutions KM Music Conservatory and Shreya Nagarajan Singh Arts Development Consultancy.
This ceremonial work – which will be shared across three days of participatory public performances, as well as an internationally livestreamed performance – will mark the first time that the Narungga language will be performed in India, and also serves as a prototype for the future of an environmentally responsible international touring model of First Nations performances that prioritises community collaboration over freight and infrastructure.
Guuranda X KMMC adapts the acclaimed mainstage production Guuranda, which was originally commissioned and presented by Adelaide Festival in 2024.
The title, Guuranda, is the Narungga name for the Yorke Peninsula, located north-west of Adelaide in South Australia, where the creation stories shared in the work are held. Created by Jacob Boehme, the performance weaves together theatre, song, puppetry, dance and visual art to share ancient stories of Country. Not merely some quaint tales – these legends are vital, violent, delightful and dangerous.
In a historic first, Narungga language will be shared in India
For this special international collaboration, the work has been reimagined as a community-engaged, participatory public ceremony.
Over the past year, students at KM Music Conservatory have been learning Narungga culture through online yarns with Narungga Elders and collaborating with Boehme and Narungga Songwoman, Sonya Rankine, to re-arrange the Guuranda soundtrack. The choir at the conservatory will perform the score in Narungga language, sharing it publicly in India for the first time.
Narungga Elder Aunty Lynette Newchurch is part of a small group of Elders and company artists travelling to Chennai to co-create the final performance with local choir members, dancers and puppeteers. She says the project reflects a deep cultural responsibility to ensure stories are shared with care and integrity.
‘For Narungga people, sharing our stories is a responsibility given by our Old People. To see young people in India learning our language and singing our creation stories is something we never imagined,’ says Newchurch. ‘It shows our culture is strong, and it shows the respect between our communities. This project is important because it keeps our stories alive and helps them travel the right way, with care, with guidance, and with family.’
Exploring the future of environmentally conscious touring
Travelling with a small international team is a deliberate choice, reflecting an environmentally responsible concept-touring and cultural exchange model grounded in Narungga and First Nations principles of caring for Country.
Much more than a single tour or a fixed production, Guuranda X is an ongoing, evolving cultural exchange platform that tests new ways of touring, making, and presenting First Nations dance-theatre that are grounded in responsibility rather than scale, reciprocity rather than consumption, and deep listening rather than speed.
Instead of transporting large sets, costumes or infrastructure, the creative team works with local artists, materials and teams in each city, reducing freight emissions while deepening community engagement. This model is being developed as a prototype for future sustainable international touring of First Nations performance.
‘Guuranda X KMMC is more than a performance, it is a living exchange, a responsibility, and an offering,’ says Artistic Director Jacob Boehme.
‘I’m deeply grateful to the Elders, students, teachers and artists who have embraced Narungga language and story with such respect and enthusiasm. This project is a glimpse of the future we’re building: one where culture is carried sustainably, shared generously, and kept strong through relationships.’
The Chennai presentation extends the original intentions of Guuranda: to protect, revitalise, and share Narungga culture, language and creation stories, and to leave a legacy of deepened cross-cultural understanding.
Guuranda X KMMC: performance info
The collaboration will be shared via public performances at Tower Park, Anna Nagar, Chennai from 21–22 March, where the audience will join the company to perform the work as a collective ceremony. (Audience registration here.)
Guuranda X KMMC will be live-streamed from Chennai on 22 March at 11.30pm AEDT (6pm IST/ 11pm ACDT/ 10.30pm AEST/ 8.30pm AWST) as a shared ceremony across continents, and will be available to watch online for 48 hours. Follow @guuranda_x on Instagram for updates.
