The Due West Arts Festival should be your new favourite arts festival because it represents what Melbourne is known for: Multiculturalism.
Due West Arts Festival poster on the outside of Footscray Community Arts Centre. The Footscray Community Arts Centre has put the Due West Festival together two years in a row.
The Due West Arts Festival is currently in its second year and runs for just over a week; from the 15th of November to the 24th of November.
Located in the West, the festival takes place in venues across Footscray, Sunshine, Yarraville, Newport, Spotswood and Maribyrnong in iconic locations such as Scienceworks.
Festival Producer Lana Nguyen is confident in the festival’s ability to represent the large number of minority communities who call the West their home.
The festival features a colourful assortment of acts ranging from films to experimental performances, Indian dance to Ethiopian-jazz.
Ethiopian-jazz, or more commonly known as Ethio-jazz is a unique combination of genres such as jazz and afro-funk. It features soulful tones that are distinct to the genre, which can be traced back to its traditional Ethiopian routes.
Ethio-Jazz Saxophonist Solomon Sisay, is performing at the Due West Arts Festival on the 22nd of November.
“We know that Australia is a multicultural country, so it’s very exciting but, it’s our first time performing in the city so it’s very hard to tell how the people are going to react,” Sisay said.
Solomon Sisay promotional image on Due West Website. Sisay launches his new album Sisota at the Due West Arts Festival.
Prior to Due West, Solomon has toured Europe, the Middle-East, Japan, New Zealand and performed at local Australian festivals such as WOMADelaide, Port Fairy Folk Festival and MONAFOMA Festival.
According to the Melbourne Museum, Victoria is home to more than 6 thousand Ethiopian-born migrants, with much of the community living in Melbourne’s Western suburbs.
Sisay migrated to Australia in 2013 and now having lived in Australia for six years, the musician is eager for Australians to hear his music.
“We, the people who are performing in the festival, are promoting the traditional music. We encourage our community to come and participate in the Due West Festival or any music festival”.
Melbourne is a city that features almost 200 different ethnicities with approximately 50 per cent of the population being born overseas.
With Due West looming, it’s about time the cultural diversity of not only the west, but all of Melbourne, is on show for everyone to see.
“I would love to see an arts industry that is representative of the community it caters to,” said Nguyen.
“What we want to see is what we put forward in Due West, which is multiple perspectives from multiple people”.
Adequate community representation remains integral to what the Due West Festival team aims to achieve: “Looking back, to move forward, we hope that this Festival pays homage to what the West was, is and may become”.
Solomon Sisay will be launching and performing his debut album Sisota, on Friday the 22nd of November at 8:00pm. Tickets are available at https://duewestartsfestival.com.au/event/solomon-sisay-launches-sitota/
