Capital - February 2015
Swadling
new question arose: other than
music/dancing and food, of what
did the festival’s portrait of
culture consist? Further, how
would events at the festival
impact on Canberra’s broader
multiculturalism throughout the
rest of the year?
It was with these questions in
mind that I next went to visit
and tour the African Village.
The music in the Village was
more contagious, the colours
brighter. I found myself drawn
back to it several times during
the afternoon. This had to do
perhaps with the seating,
comfortable and colourful. Bright
lounge chairs and seat cushions
had been generously provided by
the sponsor, Ikea.
became curious as to what type
of individual would be capable of
transcendental meditation within
such effervescent and downright
noisy surroundings. Approaching,
I was not at all surprised to see
the meditation seats empty. I was
nonetheless pleased by the
outward curiosity which many
apparently middle-class and
middle-aged Canberra citizens
showed towards the concepts of
transcendentalism portrayed by
displays within the stall.
Looking for clues as to the
festival’s definition of culture
outside of food and music, I
noticed a placard next to the
meditation station. It advertised
an education seminar being held
by the Bilingual Education
Alliance in March 2015. A small
Listening to a band billed as the and unassuming sign, it
‘Sounds of the Sierra Leone’, I
nevertheless provided me with
had an excellent vantage point
evidence and necessary
from which to witness the
encouragement to continue
afternoon influx of crowds, busier digging deeper for a translation
than at the Island Showcase.
of the broad term ‘culture’ into
Apart from the great variety of
solid community contexts. Over
musicians and dancers on stage, the course of the weekend, I
the African Village proved a
would continue searching for
remarkable forum for a great
overlap from the festival into the
commingling of international
culture of the community.
flavours. This sector of the
festival was alive with a
Walking the grounds of the
multicultural buzz.
African Village, I had a small
insight concerning the
Seeing the Sri Lankan Embassy constitution of culture. Thinking
placed next to an Iranian food
back to my observations of the
stall provided another portrait of Pacific Islands Showcase
international fraternity, as
confirmed it: clothing as culture.
customers mingled from stall to
We are perhaps blinded to it by
stall. The Republic of Kenya High the commonality of Western
Commission was another site of clothing, but seeing people of
great dignity and communalism. other cultures dressed in the
styles of their homelands helped
A brightly-attired carnival barker to pinpoint the importance of
outside of the Sudanese
dress to a sense of belonging.
Community stall welcomed
festivalgoers, inviting them in and Where the Islanders’ mode of
responding generously to their
dress had been earthen-hued,
requests for photographs with
the styles on display at the
him.
African Village were of bright
pastels. The combinations of
Seeing the Meditation Stall, I
clothing in these settings, not
St Margaret's News
7
found elsewhere in Canberra in
such heavy concentration,
provided a vivid portrait of
multiculturalism and its varied
aspects.
As to the cultural makeup of the
crowd at the Village: the morning
crowds had been dominated by
an apparently anglicised
population, whereas the
afternoon had brought the varied
races of Canberra together.
Various strands of African and
Asian citizens enjoyed one
another’s company, eating and
chatting together happily. All of
this occurred in front of an
international variety of musical
acts, which performed both on
stage and in impromptu settings
on the footpath.
As I circuited the African Village
for the third time, I made my final
departure in the direction of the
afternoon’s biggest event, India
in the City, in Petrie Plaza. On
my way there, I encountered an
Ecuadorean street-band, playing
on the footpath right by the
carousel. Their buoyancy had the
crowd elated, and a tall African
woman, dancing ecstatically,
further delighted passers-by. The
entire festival was made up of
these seemingly small, unbilled
moments. In their testimony to
multiculturalism, they were every
bit the equal of the larger,
administered events.
On the following Sunday
morning, within my home
community of St Margaret’s
Uniting Church in Hackett, the
culture spoke of its experiences
at the festival on the previous
day. While many had
experienced inspiration and
elation, some wondered whether
the Multicultural Festival had
outgrown Civic. Would festival
attendance and enjoyment be
better served by a move to EPIC
or Glebe Park? For this reason,
March 2015