This project was in collaborations with Elug Art Corner, based in Tongmen village Hualien and made up of indigenous artists from Taiwan led by the renowned Truku artist Dondon Houwn. In my limited research and understanding of Gaya - the Truku people’s world view, I feel like it is a a living knowledge system, drawn from the ancestors who have come before aswell as drawn from the living breath of the land and water. This knowledge system both guides you and grounds you in how to live and respond in this quickly developing modern world. When indigenous/First Nations people grow up or live away from their traditional lands and/or practises, listening and allowing such knowledge systems, such as Gaya, to guide you can hold us in our identity as indigenous people. I resonate with many aspects of Gaya as it is similar to kinship lore and traditional knowledge systems back home which helps us understand our identity among the vast complex network of families, clans, tribes, stories, laws and waterways. This identity is just not shaped by listening to your elders but also the listening of land, animals and most importantly the inner body within you that connects with your ancestor spirits before. In Motu we have a word called ‘Gida’ which is the smouldering charcoal left over after a fire. This simmering is heat good for cooking food like sago is a staple food produce back home. Additionally, you would also take gida with you on long journeys through the bush as you can then use the ember to give birth to more fires. This fire stick or Gida can represent a passing on of knowledge and also a desire for knowledge and tradition that has been lost or displaced due to colonisation and diaspora, it is always smouldering inside of us and you/ someone must fan it for it to come alight. My indigenous heritage comes through the maternal line which to me is very important and powerful as the seed of me existed in my Sinagu (mum) before I was born and in turn the seed of my mum existed within my Bubu (grandma) stretching back along the whole maternal line. This short video work is exploring different ideas of rhythm and pattern, inspired by the traditional marking/tattooing of the Motuan people and also traditional body percussion of the Kiwai people. As the two dancers play with transformation, harmony and chaos it is trying to understand how different knowledge systems may overlap and spiral away from each other. This is a process of trying to trust the knowledge of the body or of the inner ‘gida’ to find ease in the complexities of urban and rural landscapes.

Performers: Panay Pan and Baden Hitchcock

Choreography: Baden Hitchcock

Composer: Baden Hitchcock

Videographer: William Lü

Video Editor: Baden Hitchcock