Australia
Fri
5:20pm
Foundation Stage
The 2018 Welcome to Country will be conducted by Jamie Goldsmith, Uncle Brian Goldsmith, Jack Buckskin and the Taikurtinna dancers and will include a tribute to Jamie’s father, Stephen Gadlabarti Goldsmith who unexpectedly passed away in July 2017. Uncle Stevie, a respected Elder, teacher, leader and passionate advocate for reconciliation, led the Welcomes at WOMADelaide for close to a decade. His spirit will be remembered by the festival team and the many people who counted him as their friend.
Uncle Stevie - In Memoriam
Stephen Gadlabarti Goldsmith was a Kaurna, Narungga and Ngarrindjeri man from South Australia, with cultural connections with the Wirangu and Yolngu peoples. He was an active member of the Kaurna Language Committee that was formed to allow and support Kaurna people to reclaim their language through music, songs and dances and, in more recent times, videos on social media. Kaurna Language Media Officer for Kaurna Warra Pintyanthi linguistics program at the University of Adelaide, this work also crossed over with his longterm Nunga Wongga Radio show.
Stephen shared his stories about his culture, language and country - often through music, song, dance, storytelling and acting – with schools, universities, community events and festivals around the world. Along the way, he formed a strong relationship with WOMAD. He featured in, and then led, WOMADelaide’s Welcome to Country on the main stage in Botanic Park for over a decade, and he also performed at WOMADs in the UK and Singapore.
At WOMADelaide 2017 Uncle Stevie left the stage immediately following the Welcome to undertake his extraordinary nightly starring role as a Dharug Elder in the sell-out Sydney Theatre Company production of The Secret River, co-presented by State Theatre Company SA and 2017 Adelaide Festival.
A leader, an advocate for reconciliation and a wonderful friend to many, Uncle Stevie unexpectedly passed away in July 2017. This news was met with great sadness as he had a deep enthusiasm for life and a well of goodwill. His spirit will always be remembered at WOMADelaide, and his legacy will continue in 2018 through his son, Jamie Goldsmith and their company Taikurtinna, and the presentation of Uncle Stevie’s Classroom in KidZone.