Cultural integrity is crucial when it comes to storytelling, particularly when navigating the corporate and commercial world, argue powerhouse art and design duo Stephen Page AO and Jacob Nash.
Delving into the intricate tapestry of First Nations storytelling and the essence of creativity in the performing arts, Page, former artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, and Nash, director of Hunt Quietly production company and former head designer at Bangarra Dance Theatre, addressed an audience in their ‘Spirit of Creativity’ session at Cannes in Cairns last month.
The award-winning creative, design, and performing arts pair emphasised that remembering your origins and family is crucial for creating meaningful work that honours the past and builds a foundation for the future.
Set designer Nash, and choreographer Page, explored their artistic journeys and the role of cultural integrity and how they view the true spirit of creativity.
“It’s about the relationships, the cultural integrity and the processes of how we upkeep and care for the integrity of that creative spirit,” Page explained.
Good leaders ask questions but let artists answer
Page, who describes “art as a medicine”, painted a vivid picture of his roots, describing his father’s freshwater country and his mother’s saltwater country and reminiscing about his childhood and having a “wonderful dysfunction” of a foot in each world growing up.
Despite the challenges of cultural displacement and assimilation faced by his parents, Page’s family maintained a vibrant environment filled with storytelling, music and performance. These early experiences shaped his passion for dance and storytelling, eventually leading him to establish Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1991.
The duo discussed the formation of Bangarra, a company that became a beacon of First Nations contemporary dance, renowned for its distinctive style that seamlessly blended traditional and contemporary elements.
Nash, who joined Bangarra in 2009, described his experience as profoundly transformative. Working closely with Page, he developed a design approach that respected and amplified the cultural stories they were telling.
Adding another inspirational story from a recent joint project at the Adelaide Festival, the pair spoke about being inspired by the humpback whale and the Baleen of the Ngugi people of Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island) and how they created whale bones for a performance.
“We didn’t want them to feel like museum pieces; we wanted them to have texture, life, hope, and empowerment,” Page said.
The combination of dramatic storytelling, striking choreography and haunting live music integrated into a stunningly designed world by Nash — which saw a song and dance creation story inside the belly of these whale bones on the beach at sunset.
“Design and creative thinking is always about questions, and Stephen can pose a question but then he can step away and let the individual artists find the answers. And that is the magic,” Nash explained.
The power of creativity
The Cannes in Cairns talk was a compelling reminder of the power of creativity rooted in cultural heritage, but both stressed the need to maintain the integrity of First Nations stories in a corporate, commercial and global world.
“You never forget where you come from, who your family is, and what country you’re from as this grounds you and who you are,” Page added.
In discussing how tradition is a huge part of the future and how there is vast opportunity to be “a new world country of an old country”, both poignantly stressed the importance of embracing cultural knowledge and stories as a foundation for national identity, advocating for a more inclusive and respectful approach to Australia’s diverse heritage.
In a closing note filled with hope for the future, Nash added: “We’re moving towards a better understanding and respect for First Nations cultures. It’s a journey of discovery and empowerment through creativity.”
A testament to the enduring power of cultural heritage and creative expression, leaving the audience inspired and reflective on the profound impact of their stories, many audience members were left inspired and captivated.
“A personal highlight was Stephen Page and Jacob Nash’s session,” said Emma Beaumont, The Marketing Academy’s APAC program director.
“Stephen is a living legend, the pair of them were an absolute delight and there should have been more in the audience. I’ll never be able to let that go!”
Leah Cioccio, strategy director at Equality Media, also said she was “captivated” with how the pair spoke honestly about their life stories and how their pursuits in the arts are truly a sum of their parts.
“The two most memorable messages of the conference came from this session and to quote Stephen Page AO they were: “Over 200 years ago we missed a huge opportunity to embrace multiculturalism” and “Art is medicine”,” she beamed.
Speaking to B&T about her Cannes in Cairns experience, Cioccio said the sessions from minority groups such as the Bangarra duo and also Ray Edwards, the director and cinematographer who spoke about the privilege of being brought up in the culture of his Maori ancestors, are the ones that are etched in her memory forever.
“I made a point of attending the sessions that were a bit cryptic in their connection to the marketing community because I knew they would be the most memorable and have the greatest impact on my learning and personal development,” Cioccio added.
“Ray’s ‘Once Upon a Time’ session was one that gave me my first taste of truly new information at the conference – and it felt so good,” she said.
“He gave 30 minutes of his time to share the stories that shape ancient Māori culture and how they translate to his modern life as a cinematographer. It was relatable and inspiring.”
Flying in from New Zealand to speak, Edwards, who works at film production house Collider, is a firm believer that cultural stories hold the wisdom of generations and introduced himself on stage in traditional Māori fashion with a chant.
Delegates were also treated to an exclusive preview of ACE, the first short film written by filmmaker Edwards which is set to make its premiere at film festivals later this year.
Shot along the beautiful east coast of Aotearoa, the story follows a young boy who journeys to the underworld to talk to his ancestors and draws parallels with a hero’s journey – a theme represented in countless Indigenous stories worldwide.
Edwards then played a song by Māori musician Mara TK.
“I started my speech off with a chant as it’s customary in my culture to start all speeches with chants and these chants, they tell stories,” Edwards said.
Following the three examples of storytelling he shared at the start of his speech – the chant, the film and the song – Edwards emphasised the importance of storytelling in Māori culture.
He shared stories about the Māori culture’s gods, highlighting their multiple faces and aspects, and how these stories reflect the psychological and behavioural aspects of human experience.
While detailing Maori people’s history of land confiscation, disenfranchisement and their disproportionate representation in negative outcomes such as poverty, crime, and poor health, Edwards emphasised the need to update these stories of colonisation, acknowledge their own Western heritage and to reflect their diverse achievements and successes.
“Going back to that story of the Maori people being overrepresented in prisons, this is another story that needs to be updated,” he explained.
He explained how there are many Māori people doing amazing things, citing actor and director Taika Waititi as a Māori person taking over Hollywood, as well as incredible Māori lawyers, teachers and more – but the stories of Māori people still “need to be updated”.
“Stories are powerful and are not different from how we perceive the world and we really need to take that seriously,” he said.
“Knowing that stories shape our experience, they shape our world and ultimately they shape our futures, my challenge to all of you here as communicators and storytellers and creative people, is what kind of story are you going to tell and what kind of story should you tell?”
