We are preparing to take acclaimed singer songwriter Jessie Lloyd on the road with her deeply moving Mission Songs Project in 2020, visiting communities right across Australia and all the way to Canada!
Jessie has spent years meticulously researching what life was like for members of the Stolen Generations who were forcibly removed from their families by the Australian Government and made to live on religious missions.
She has travelled extensively across Australia and the Torres Strait, working with communities to capture the songs and stories that sprang from this experience – songs of sorrow, resilience, hope and resistance.
In 2020, we will produce a major Canadian tour of Mission Songs Project, bringing these important Australian stories to audiences with a very similar shared history.
Jessie will then return to Australia and embark on a 21 venue tour we are producing across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia.
At a few key locations across the tour, Jessie will continue her research into life during the mission days and work with Elders to find new stories and songs that shed light on local histories. These will be performed by local musicians and the Mission Songs Project singers as part of the show, gifting these important stories back to the community.
We cannot wait to visit a venue near you!
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This project has been supported by the Australian Government through its Indigenous Languages and Arts program, and the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body; and by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
