The City of Melbourne’s First Peoples festival YIRRAMBOI (‘Tomorrow’ in the language of the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung peoples) has announced the details of four major new commissions set to premiere in narrm/Melbourne in 2027.
They include a promenade theatre piece, a contemporary circus work, a live performance celebrating language rematriation, and a film and installation project documenting the stories of unsung Elders.
YIRRAMBOI Commissions – quick links
YIRRAMBOI Commisions: supporting Victorian First Nations artists
The new works have been supported through the YIRRAMBOI Commissions Program, which provides Victorian First Nations artists with the resources to premiere ambitious new works rooted in community and creative sovereignty.
‘There is nothing more powerful than backing our artists to create on their own terms, to play, to explore, to take risks and to speak their truths. That is where the most urgent and pivotal work is born,’ said Sherene Stewart, YIRRAMBOI Festival Co-Lead/Artistic Lead.
‘We’re deeply honoured to be entrusted with new works by senior artists, cultural leaders and the next generation of First Nations creatives. Artists who helped shape past festivals now return as pillars of the 2027 program, leading ambitious new work that reflect the strength and continuity of this platform,’ she added.
Emily Wells, YIRRAMBOI’s Co-Lead/Executive Lead, said: ‘At a time of uncertainty across the arts sector, YIRRAMBOI doubles down on ambitious, self-determined commissioning. As a First Nations festival, resilience is not new to us. We have always created within constraint. We will continue to push, to carve out opportunity, and to honour our responsibility as a vital and enduring platform for First Nations practice.’
City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece added: ‘We’re proud to support First Nations artists to create work that is grounded in culture, community and truth-telling. YIRRAMBOI demonstrates what is possible when cities invest in the creativity of its people.’
What are the 2027 YIRRAMBOI commissions?
The four works being developed through the YIRRAMBOI Commissions Program are:
GANBINAN!
Written entirely in Yorta Yorta, GANBINAN! is a new album celebrating language reclamation, renewal and cultural resilience. Co-written and composed by Yorta Yorta artist Allara and Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung singer, songwriter and language reclaimer Dr Lou Bennett AM, in partnership with Binung Boorigan, the project fuses contemporary music-making with deep cultural practice, positioning song as both pedagogy and activism.
For YIRRAMBOI 2027, the work evolves into an immersive live music experience, bringing Yorta Yorta language, music and community together on stage. Drawing on Allara’s strengths as a bassist and sound designer, and Bennett’s leadership and research in language rematriation through song pedagogy, GANBINAN! stands as both a process of language activism and community empowerment, affirming the living and evolving presence of Yorta Yorta.
Read: Painted Up: This vibrant exhibition challenges colonial perceptions of Aboriginal art
Somewhere Over the Blak Rainbow
A theatrical street-based songline mapping the Blak and Queer histories of Fitzroy, Somewhere Over the Blak Rainbow by Yorta Yorta/Yullaba Yullaba playwright Bryan Andy blends memory, drag, music and monologue to honour generations of Aboriginal LGBTQIA+ lives on Wurundjeri Country.
Guided by two drag personas, Flora, a chocolate lily drag queen, and Fauna, a drag king wombat, audiences are taken on a journey through stories of survival, kinship and resistance. The work honours ancestors including Lisa Bellear, Uncle Jack Charles and Aunty Vicki Liddy, while reimagining John Harding’s The Dirty Mile (first staged by ILBIJERRI in 2006) through a contemporary Blak and Queer lens.
The project is led by Bryan Andy, co-produced by Sarah-Jane Bond, and guided by Wurundjeri Elder and Queer cultural advisor Annette Xiberras.
Withewa (To Return Home)
Spearheaded by Wemba Wemba/Yorta Yorta/Mutti Mutti/Barapa Barapa artist Jedda Atkinson-Costa, Withewa is a poetic film work honouring unsung Aboriginal Elders whose life stories risk being lost if not preserved.
Filmed in places rich with memory, the work weaves voice, landscape, natural light and archival material to create intimate portraits of cultural leadership, care and quiet strength. The first in a proposed series, the project positions Elders as living archives, preserving humour, wisdom and story as both cinematic works and deeply personal family keepsakes.
Guided by cultural mentorship and community consultation, Withewa acts as a living eulogy, ensuring these stories continue to echo long after Elders return to the Dreaming.
What Yet
A new contemporary circus work examining how cultural knowledge is transferred – and disrupted – for young First Nations people today, What Yet is created by Arrernte performer Maggie Church-Kopp and Anaiwan creative Johnny Brown.
Developed through extended research on Arrernte Country, the work transforms lived experience into powerful physical storytelling, addressing incarceration, education, childhood and cultural survival.
Led by director Maggie Church-Kopp and choreographer Johnny Brown, and created by an all–First Nations team, What Yet promises to deliver a visceral call for listening, accountability and cultural continuity.
