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00:00when I was 12 I broke my back a doctor said I'm really sorry you're not going to be able to move
00:13again so I spent quite a lot of time in the children's ward at the hospital and much later
00:22many years later somebody was working on my back they were pressing on my back and suddenly boom
00:31I was back in the hospital it was the sudden very vivid memory and it was not the way I told the
00:43story I was remembering children crying there's this incredible smell of medicine and there's
00:52darkness and the sounds of this hospital all these kids I had erased from my mind so I'm like wait a
01:03second who's telling this story each event really am I remembering I'm now overlaying another story as
01:12I'm telling you this story every time you recall something it's different but you tell the story
01:21that you can tell
01:42it's funny how memories work you know the ways that we attach stories to them and how they change
01:51over time why do some stick others slip away and some appear when you least expect them what I want
02:02to know is how do we hold on to the memories that matter so I'm heading to meet artists who capture document
02:14and help us understand memories and I think I know just where to start
02:23I did soundcheck makeup then meet and greet no no designer came for the dress meet and greet photo shoot
02:39yep a day in the life of Alok is a lot poet performer fashion icon activist we are so
02:47fucking powerful their presence bends time place and expectation hi I'm Alok in tonight's show I'm going
02:57to be weaving comedy with poetry because I identify as a pretentious piece of shit
03:04Alok's performance uses the memories that shaped them to connect with audiences in over 40 countries in
03:14turn creating powerful new ones photo shoot and then now this when sleep sleep that's important you know
03:23the Trisha Gursi rest is resistance tell me in comedy how do you choose what to use and what to leave out when it comes to the
03:34memory every single day I write down what I do what I think what I feel so when I'm working on a new
03:39show I don't have to start from scratch I can go back to my memory and say it wasn't it so funny when
03:44this thing happened I was recently back home in Texas and my uber driver was like Alok that's the strangest
03:53name I've ever seen how do you spell that I mean it's written right there on the phone screen
04:00actually and I'm constantly in conversation with past versions of myself I was excited to learn
04:06about a new culture too so I asked my driver in that hand what his name meant in his culture
04:14are there particular memories that continuously show up in your work yes so many um so I have so
04:25many stories from just growing up in Texas as a kid and some of the most horrendous racism xenophobia
04:32homophobia I was experiencing tonight I want to make the argument that trans people are human
04:38so now as an adult I get to go back into those painful memories and use humor to kind of detoxify
04:46them by which I mean insufferable just like you I know as a student of history it's not a question
04:55of if it's a question of when we will be erased and so I see memory as a political project we have to
05:01document that we were here and we have to become so flagrant and so flamboyant that any attempt to
05:07kind of expunge us from the record won't work in revisiting particular memories do you find a look
05:13that they change over time 100% some of the most painful things that I've gone through now no
05:21longer faze me what do you hope people take away from the memories that you share on stages permission
05:30permission to be complex permission to be human because memory is one of the most beautiful things
05:36that makes us human when grandpa died the hospice nurses told us that his death would be painless I
05:45mistakenly thought that meant it would be quick love means noticing everything about someone developing
05:56an acute sensitivity to the aliveness of everything they touch and that's precisely why it's so lethal
06:02because then you end up missing everything when it's gone I think one of the defining features of
06:10our species is our capacity to dream and our capacity to remember
06:14as Alok steps up to share their memories with a packed house their ideas have me thinking
06:33some of my most cherished memories come from my homeland
06:41Papua New Guinea but also Melbourne where I grew up
06:44and these artists bring those worlds together all while holding onto treasured memories
06:55the Tatana Village Choir all the way from Port Moresby proudly walking through Naam
07:02led by Aaron Shulai artistic director of the Australian Art Orchestra
07:07I'm excited because the choir have invited me to the playhouse
07:18in Melbourne for a sneak peek of the final dress rehearsal for their show
07:22Ane Taabia
07:23Ane Taabia in Mwotu translated it really means sing a song
07:29This is the sound of Peraveta a unique choral tradition in Mwotuan culture
07:49The musical form was born during 19th century colonisation combining the hymns of western missionaries
07:57with traditional Papuan harmonies
08:00But for many like Aaron it carries something deeper
08:07A bond with home through memory
08:11My connection to it is I was born in Papua New Guinea
08:15And when I moved to Australia all I wanted to do was to fit in
08:22And so I ignored any type of cultural connection to PNG
08:28To me it was kind of embarrassing the food that we ate wasn't the same as other people
08:32The music listened to wasn't the same
08:34We didn't speak the same language
08:35But there is one language that's universal
08:39Aaron would find a place to belong
08:42In jazz
08:43And it would take him across the world
08:46From Melbourne to New York to Tokyo
08:49But music has a way of circling back
08:54And eventually he would reconnect
08:58With the sounds of his past
09:00When I was 19 my mother passed away
09:03And I went back to Port Moresby
09:07And throughout that whole period people would just start singing Paravata
09:11I remember sitting outside with my uncles listening to the music
09:18And I was like this is some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard
09:22And now as a composer Aaron is creating something new
09:28By combining the musical memories of his family and childhood
09:31With the traditions of jazz improvisation
09:35A lot of the music we participate in has a dark history associated with it
09:51And people have suffered for it
09:53And people have suffered culturally
09:53And it's powerful to be reminded of that
09:56Because it makes the motivation to turn this thing into something beautiful
10:01It takes me back to my childhood days
10:07Looking at my grandparents
10:10I'm also in tears remembering how they held on to the Paravata
10:15We are so proud of it
10:19Because what has been so long within us
10:21Is now coming out to the well
10:23What a note to end off on
10:45Wow I gotta say I'm kind of blown away
10:49To take memories so painful
10:52Beautiful and complex
10:55And reshape them into something healing
10:57Is truly special
10:59But memories are more than just personal
11:05They're also institutional
11:08Shaped by the places that collect, display and claim to preserve them
11:14To see how institutions decide which memories to keep
11:18And how these stories shape Australia's identity
11:21I'm heading to meet art historian Mary McGillivray
11:26It's so great
11:28So I've got something pretty special to show you
11:32Namila, this is an image of the first public art gallery in Australia
11:38And here we have a scene of this hall, Queen's Hall
11:42As it was set up originally as an art gallery
11:44As a picture gallery for the public
11:46What I find particularly fascinating about this image though
11:50Is really how little has changed in 150 years
11:54Since this gallery opened
11:57And look at the people who are milling about
11:59I'm not seeing any sisters in me, Mary
12:01Unfortunately there's a lot of bonnets and petticoats instead
12:05There sure are
12:07And also a very middle class crowd
12:09Yeah, it still feels very recognisable
12:12What's changed, right?
12:14And it's kind of wild when you think about arts institutions
12:17And the objects and collections that they have within
12:20How it really shapes ideas of nationhood and national identity
12:25Art galleries and museums are obviously making decisions all the time
12:29About what they collect, what they keep
12:31And these types of collections in the 19th century prioritised European artworks
12:37Colonial Australian artworks
12:39They didn't consider First Nations people
12:41And their artworks as being important to hold for the public in a public gallery
12:46So I think when we think about institutions
12:49The institutional memory that carries so much of our national identity
12:54Is something that we need to interrogate
12:55We need to look at images like this
12:57Think about what's missing, not just what's there
12:59Well, I've loved seeing both of these books
13:04I'm a bit disappointed though that there were no white gloves
13:06I thought I could feel official with doing that
13:08But let's keep moving, Mary
13:10Thank you for this
13:11Yep, no white gloves for me
13:14But maybe that's for the best
13:16Because holding onto memories doesn't have to mean locking them away behind glass
13:23For some, the memories that matter belong on the streets
13:28Which brings me to Aretha Brown
13:31My role as an Aboriginal artist is about telling memories that have been forgotten
13:36Or selectively forgotten
13:38That makes me need a cuppa
13:40Let's go and grab one
13:41Yeah, let's go
13:42Wow, yum
13:43Look at that pool
13:44For Aretha, keeping memories alive
13:49Hey you mobs
13:49We've just finished our big work here in Tokyo
13:51Means keeping them loud and proud
13:54We're always in solidarity with mob all over the world
13:57She founded the Kiss My Art Collective in 2019
14:00Planting large-scale public murals around the world
14:04From Tokyo to Toronto
14:06New York, London and Timor-Leste
14:10It's a photo store
14:11Yeah, definitely
14:12To right here at home
14:14You'll be a mere distant memory
14:16Aretha's campaign to challenge the power of institutional memory
14:25Began in the most familiar institution of them all
14:29Yeah, so I remember I only finished high school a couple years ago
14:32And I moved at that point in time
14:35From living with my mum and community up in northern New South Wales
14:37To living with my dad in the city
14:38Which was like a big change for me
14:39And I remember, yeah
14:41I would walk pretty much into history class
14:43And there would be our history textbook
14:45And the first page would be, you know
14:46There are Aboriginal people here
14:48The next 400 pages would be all colonial history
14:51Yeah, I would then go home
14:53And I'd talk to Nan on the phone
14:54And we'd be talking about stuff that's still relevant
14:56You know, her history with the Stolen Generations
14:59Uncle Gary Foley in the tent embassy
15:01And just like incredible important black history in this country
15:04And I would go to school
15:07And I'd want to talk about them and have no answers
15:08But we weren't learning about any of that
15:10And so I always felt like kind of an educationally gaslit
15:13You know, I was like, I feel crazy
15:16That's the term
15:17Educationally gaslit
15:18Because I knew that this stuff
15:19Shaped by that experience
15:21Aretha forged back
15:26Let's make it angrier
15:29And started making new memories
15:33It's like the cause like that
15:34That have been like, okay
15:35Someone call the police for me
15:37How do you choose what stories to put on those walls?
15:43I really like responding to what's happening now
15:45As well as mixing in historical moments
15:48And historical figures and stories
15:49That I also think is important
15:51But it's also important for me
15:53Physically as a young Aboriginal woman
15:55To paint that work
15:56And for people to see me paint it
15:58Because there's been moments
16:01Where I've been in another country
16:03Even the UK
16:03Where someone came up to me and said
16:05Oh, I didn't even know Aboriginal people still existed
16:07What?
16:08Yeah, can you believe that?
16:10So for me, it's about decolonising
16:12By literally taking up space
16:14With my body
16:15Not only as an Aboriginal person
16:16But as a woman
16:17And I think art is a really great way to do that
16:22Aretha, so good to chat
16:30We haven't even eaten
16:30I know, shall we try it?
16:31Yeah, I'm going to tuck more into this
16:33Aretha's shown me how memories
16:34Aren't just stories we tell
16:36By holding on to the ones that matter
16:38And fighting for them
16:40They can promote change
16:42And help us let go of false narratives
16:44But what happens when memory meets technology?
16:50Is the cloud just a digital dumping ground?
16:53Or in a modern world
16:54Can computers save the memories that really matter?
17:00Are you good?
17:01I'm good
17:01Are you alright?
17:03You got it
17:04Oh, look at that
17:05Okay, alright
17:06Okay, here's a clap for you
17:08I know you're never going to use that
17:09But
17:09Take one
17:10Laurie Anderson
17:12My man is just leaving
17:13For nearly five decades
17:15She's embraced technology
17:16In the most unexpected ways
17:19A pioneering artist
17:22She's woven together music
17:24Performance
17:25Visual art
17:26And cinema
17:27Crafting experiences
17:29That defy definition
17:30I met this guy
17:32At the heart of it
17:34Laurie is a storyteller
17:36To walk around
17:37In my dreams
17:38Who explores the past
17:40Present
17:41And future
17:42You've been on this road before
17:44So how does Laurie
17:46Explore the domain of memory?
17:49MUSIC
17:50You have a long and wonderful history
17:57Of working with art and technology
18:00Can you tell us about the
18:02I'll be your mirror project?
18:04I got the chance to do that
18:06In Adelaide
18:07At the Machine Learning Institute
18:09And I got there
18:10And they said
18:10Okay
18:11This is the largest language
18:13Supercomputer in the world
18:15You're the artist and resident
18:16What do you want it to do?
18:18Anyway
18:18I said
18:18Let's teach this supercomputer
18:20To read the Bible
18:21They took everything
18:22That I've ever written
18:23Said
18:24Or recorded
18:25Or whatever
18:25And they crossed it
18:27With the Bible
18:28And for some
18:29It was the inevitable
18:30Last stage
18:31And I was like
18:32This sounds like me
18:33It was in my language
18:35The ways I was talking
18:38I felt I wrote that Bible
18:41And then Laurie
18:43Tried feeding the same machine
18:45The words of her late husband
18:47The Velvet Underground frontman
18:49And pop icon
18:50Lou Reed
18:51Can we talk about
18:53AI Laurie
18:54And AI Lou
18:57And creating together?
18:59Well
18:59Obviously
18:59I don't think
19:00That I'm making songs
19:01With my dead husband
19:02But we did
19:03It's really pretty hideous
19:10Because it doesn't have
19:10A sense of humour
19:11It doesn't have his laugh
19:16You don't hear him breathing
19:17Because machines
19:18Don't need to breathe
19:19When a machine starts
19:21Speaking in your voice
19:23Telling stories
19:24In the words
19:25Of your loved ones
19:26It raises a strange
19:29Kind of question
19:30Exactly who
19:31Is in charge here?
19:34If memory can be
19:36Simulated
19:36Re-written
19:37Or re-assembled
19:39Then what
19:40Makes it truly yours?
19:43What does memory
19:44Mean to you?
19:46I have come to the conclusion
19:48That there's no such thing
19:49As memory
19:50For example
19:51I was asked to write
19:52A book of memoirs
19:53I want to tell you
19:54A story
19:55About a story
19:56And one of those stories
19:59Was called
20:00A story about a story
20:01When I was 12
20:04I was jumping off
20:06A high board
20:07And I thought
20:08I'm going to do
20:09A triple flip
20:09It was really hard
20:12And I ended
20:13Landed on the side
20:15Of the pool
20:15And I broke my back
20:17So I was
20:19In a brace
20:20Like this
20:21For two years
20:2412 to 14
20:26And then
20:27Much later
20:29Many years later
20:30Somebody asked me
20:31What it was like
20:32In the hospital
20:32And suddenly
20:35Boom
20:35I was back in the hospital
20:39That was in the unit
20:41With the burn victims
20:42And there was
20:44The sounds
20:44Of all these children
20:45All nights
20:47Screaming
20:48And it was
20:50Not the way
20:50I told the story
20:52I had
20:55Forgotten all of this
20:57So I'm not sure
21:00Sometimes
21:00What really is
21:02In the past
21:03You get your story
21:08And you hold on to it
21:11And every time
21:14You tell it
21:14You forget it
21:17Mark
21:19As much as we're compelled
21:26To hold on to our
21:27Dearest memories
21:29Laurie's work
21:30Is a reminder
21:31They're neither fixed
21:32Or forever
21:34But even as they fade
21:39Through art
21:41Our memories can still
21:42Have an extraordinary impact
21:44My name is Gladen McLaughlin
21:48And I'll be presenting
21:49A program about
21:50The role of women
21:50During the war
21:52These tapes were recorded
21:54By an award winning
21:55Oral historian
21:57Who spent much of her life
22:00Documenting
22:01Other people's memories
22:03And I've come
22:08To meet her today
22:09Lovely to meet you
22:12I actually met
22:13Glad two years ago
22:15I haven't even met
22:16Before
22:16Yeah
22:17There's a reason
22:18Glad doesn't remember
22:19For ten years
22:21She's been living
22:22With advanced
22:23Outside
22:24At the Preston Town Hall
22:25The Preston Town Hall
22:26And for the past
22:28Forty years
22:29Best friend Cheryl
22:30Has been by her side
22:32Sometimes I say
22:33To her
22:34Who am I
22:34So I can be the secretary
22:35I can be the carer
22:37I can be the driver
22:38But there's one area
22:40We're glad
22:41Now let's see
22:42If we can play this
22:43We'll always
22:44Have the upper hand
22:45Have I got it up
22:47The right way
22:47The other way around
22:48Ready
22:52I think we better
22:57Not sing it
22:57Incredibly
23:07Even as Glad's memory
23:08Deteriorates
23:09Her lifelong connection
23:11To music remains
23:12This led to participating
23:16In a research project
23:18Studying the impact
23:19Choir singing
23:20Could have for people
23:22Living with dementia
23:22And their care partners
23:24Excellent
23:26Out of it came
23:27The Rewire Musical
23:28Memories Choir
23:29Where daughter Helen
23:31Along with Glad
23:32And Cheryl
23:33Come to sing
23:34Every Friday
23:35Sorry Glad
23:36They're going to make
23:37A fuss of you
23:38You're not camera shy
23:38Or anything are you
23:39I don't know
23:40What's happening
23:42That's okay
23:44I've got a lovely
23:45Person with me
23:47You do
23:47You brought a guest
23:48A guest of honour
23:50May I ask for a song
23:53From you
23:53We are
23:54Oh I am Australian
23:56As Glad begins to play
24:09You can literally see
24:10Her musical memories
24:12Spring to life
24:13But what's really
24:17Going on here
24:18Can you talk me through
24:20Your understanding
24:21Of what the connection
24:21Is between music
24:23And memory
24:24We know that when
24:26We're listening to music
24:27And when we're singing
24:28Or playing an instrument
24:29That our whole brain
24:31Is lighting up
24:31We also know that
24:33The hippocampus
24:34Which is kind of
24:35The memory processing centre
24:36If you like
24:37Is really close to the
24:38Amygdala in the brain
24:39And amygdala is
24:41Responsible for emotions
24:42So when we're listening
24:44To music that might be
24:45Connected to a really
24:46Important part of our life
24:47Like a wedding
24:47Or a funeral
24:48A song that reminds us
24:51Of someone special
24:52That's really being
24:56Coded through that music
24:57As well
24:57That emotional content
24:59Is in there
24:59And music's very emotional
25:00That was beautiful
25:07What an emotional song
25:08And sitting with Glad
25:12I can see it too
25:13Through music
25:15Distant memories
25:16Come alive
25:17When I was little
25:19I lived on a farm
25:22And it was a lovely
25:24Childhood really
25:25I can remember
25:27My sister was a good
25:30Musicist
25:31She used to play
25:32At church
25:34That's right
25:35And then when she
25:38Wasn't around
25:39I'd muck around
25:40On the piano
25:41That's when it started
25:44Holding onto memory
25:49Has always mattered
25:51To Glad
25:51She began as a nurse
25:53But her true calling
25:54Was capturing stories
25:56In 1991
25:57Miri Lowe
25:58With the help of
25:59Former Land Army Women
26:00Published a story
26:01She spent years
26:02Recording the voices
26:03Of everyday Australians
26:05Documenting memories
26:07So that they wouldn't
26:08Be lost in time
26:09We were working
26:11Out on the
26:12Flax
26:13At Riddle's Creek
26:14And we hit
26:15Little song about it
26:16Relax when it's
26:18Spreading flax
26:19Over the hills
26:20Of Riddle
26:20After dedicating
26:23Herself to documenting
26:24The memories of others
26:25Now music
26:26Is helping preserve
26:27Glad's story
26:29Thank you
26:35This is so funny
26:38Because I was
26:39A bit
26:40In a dream
26:42Yesterday
26:43Wasn't I
26:44And for daughter
26:46Helen
26:46And best friend
26:47Cheryl
26:48Who am I?
26:52You're my
26:53Very best friend
26:54Cheryl
26:55Oh my god
26:55These fleeting
26:57Moments
26:57Are precious
26:58I'm glad
26:59That you remembered
27:00Me like that
27:01Thank you
27:02And
27:02This lady
27:04Just over
27:05Offering me
27:05A cup of tea
27:06Or coffee
27:06Has ended up
27:08Our friendship
27:09Today
27:09That's beautiful
27:10Oh my gosh
27:12Love it
27:13You're like my daughter
27:14She wants to
27:15Officially adopt
27:16After spending time
27:24With GLAD
27:24And the other
27:25Incredible artists
27:26I've met on this
27:27Journey
27:27It's clear that art
27:29Can help us
27:30Hold on to the
27:31Memories
27:31That truly matter
27:33Whether it's the
27:34Places we've lived
27:35The wrongs we tried
27:37To write
27:37Or the friends
27:38We met along the way
27:39Our stories
27:41Are what we leave
27:42Behind
27:42After talking
27:44With a number
27:44Of people
27:45It became clear
27:46That there were
27:47Many women
27:48Who played vital
27:48Roles during the war
27:49And the women
27:50Were going to hear
27:51From Kit Brown
27:52Mary White
27:53Mary Lowe
27:54Elaine Peters
27:55And Vi Malcolm
27:55In spare time
27:56We either played
27:57Tennis or went
27:58To the pictures
27:58Or whatever
27:59But before I head
28:02Home
28:03There's some new
28:04Memories I want
28:05To make
28:35Of these
28:37ERS
28:37Theivals
28:38clue
28:38I won
28:39And the
28:40Let's take
28:40Move
28:40There's some new
28:43New
28:44Illustrian
28:44Tellerman
28:49Something
28:54Life
28:55It's
28:56the
28:57Photoshop
28:57Design
28:57It's
28:58technology
28:59This course
29:01The
29:01coach
29:02You
29:02The
29:03THERE customer
29:03You
29:03The
29:04mercado
29:04He
29:05You
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