National Library Live @ Folk Festivals!

Holmes, Robyn

People wait patiently for a turn at online access, at the Library's Lounge, 2007 National Folk Festival

The National Library's Curator of Music, Robyn Holmes, interviews Keith Potger in 'Live@theLounge'

Ian Blake, 2007 National Folk Fellow, performing during this year's Fellowship concert

Curator of Music Robyn Holmes, SLWA's Kylie Black and NLA folklore collector Rob Willis talking with WA ABC presenter Sharon Kennedy at the Western Australian Fairbridge Folk Festival

The folk festivals that take place around Australia over summer--autumn highlight the significance of folklore traditions for many people and diverse communities around Australia. The role of our national and state libraries in collecting and safeguarding archives of folklore is increasingly being appreciated, as people seek to explore and create anew the expressive links between the 'here and now' and their heritage.

For several years the National Library has taken its collections and services 'live' and online to the National Folk Festival, held annually in Canberra over the four days of Easter. Our initial rationale was to increase the profile of the Library's folklore collections of music, dance and stories among performers and creators. But it soon became clear that the festival, with its large and captive audience, was the perfect place to showcase the full range and diversity of the Library's collections, online and information services, publications and public programs.

At the 2007 festival we again set up the Library's Lounge, an information marquee located in the main performance venue. Our wireless internet kiosk, sponsored by TransACT, provided the only public online access on the festival site--a sure way to attract visitors! Almost 50 staff volunteers from across the Library contributed, either staffing the marquee, managing the technology or coordinating our program of live interviews, concerts and workshops throughout the weekend.

'Live@theLounge' interviews with major festival performers provided the public with a taste of our folklore collecting program. These took place in the intimacy of the Lounge in front of a live audience, but reached more than 3500 people through projection onto a large screen by the main stage. Interviews with Keith Potger, formerly of The Seekers, Tao Rodrigez-Seeger from USA folk-rock band The Mammals, Greek band Apodomi Compania and The Pigram Brothers from Broome gave just a sample of the richness and diversity of the folk traditions represented.

A key part of the Library's strategy to build relationships with collectors and performers is to offer a National Folk Fellowship in partnership with the Festival. Applications for the 2008 National Folk Fellowship close on 30 June and can be submitted online at http://www.nla.gov.au/library/awards/folkfestival.html. The Fellowship offers performers the opportunity to research original folklore material from archival collections held in the National Library, with support for travel, accommodation and living expenses and a guaranteed performance at the following National Folk Festival. This year's Fellowship concert attracted an audience of over 500 and demonstrated two entirely different creative approaches to folklore research. 2007 National Folk Fellow Ian Blake composed a suite for electronics, live instruments and children's dance, derived from archival recordings of children's songs and games. The 2006 National Folk Fellows, Adrian Barker and Ben Stephenson, enthused the audience with their performance based on the hidden history of Irish music in Australia.

This year the National Library extended its outreach program to the Western Australian Fairbridge Folk Festival, located in the historic site of the world's first Fairbridge Farm School, south-west of Perth. The National Library and the State Library of Western Australia joined forces to provide an information stand at the festival, held on 13-15 April. Unique pictures and stories of Fairbridge were displayed by the State Library, together with displays of the National Library's online services and publications. The Curator of Music, the Curator of Oral History and Folklore and folklore collectors Rob and Olya Willis were on hand to answer all manner of questions.

Live presentations facilitated by Rob and Graham Seal, Professor of Folklore at Curtin University, highlighted aspects of a joint NLA, Australian Folklore Network and Curtin University collecting program. The Western Australian Folklife Project has recorded many facets of social history and folklore in the state from Broome to Derby, and the festival presentations illustrated topics as diverse as whaling, timber, travelling showmen, farming, Indigenous folklore, and Swiss, Irish and other multicultural traditions. An interview with Fairbridge child migrant, John Lane, added to our Child Migration Oral History project: John told stories of life on the farm and playing music in the Fairbridge band, and sang songs learned as a prisoner-of-war in Japan. And not even the wonderful day of flooding rain and rivers of mud could dampen the wild enthusiasm brought to the dance floor by Ben Stephenson and Adrian Barker as they gathered more and more Irish musicians to the stage!

We were most grateful to Kylie Black from the State Library's music team for organising this cooperative activity and for helping us transform the space into an inviting and informative place where we could meet and talk with people from communities that are normally tricky for us to reach.

Overall, the National Library's participation in these festivals has allowed it to reach people of all ages and interests in a relaxed and fun setting, to bring collections to life, and to engage people's interest in the significance and value of libraries across Australia.

Robyn Holmes

Curator of Music