Lou Bennett is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

musician, actress and academic researching Aboriginal languages and their retrieval.

Early life and education

Bennett is a

Yorta Yorta The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wale ...

Dja Dja Wurrung The Djadjawurrung or Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the traditional owners of lands including the water catchment areas of the Loddon and Avoca ...

woman from

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative cen ...

, Victoria, Australia. In October 2015 Bennett completed a PhD on Aboriginal language retrieval and reclamation at

RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

. Her thesis was entitled "Sovereign Language Repatriation".

Career

Bennett started her musical career with her uncle's band "The Shades", before later joining Richard Frankland's band " Djaambi", where she met Sally Dastey and Amy Saunders—Bennett, Dastey and Saunders later formed the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Award-winning band Tiddas. After Tiddas disbanded in 2000, Bennett performed with a new band Sweet Cheeks and has worked as a

stage actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

—the latter has included an autobiographical show '' Show Us Your Tiddas!''. ''Show Us Your Tiddas!'' follows Bennett's life as she recounts a series of stories that include the occasion when she revealed her sexuality to her family, her first live performance, moving into an urban environment and her time with Tiddas. Bennett was a member of The Black Arm Band, for which she was an artistic director, composer, vocal supervisor and performer. This included directing, arranging, and performing in '' Dirtsong'', both the world premiere at the 2009

Melbourne International Arts Festival Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...

and the second performance at the 2014

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

. The songs were written by

Alexis Wright Alexis Wright (born 25 November 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian writer. She is best known for winning the Miles Franklin Award for her 2006 novel '' Carpentaria''. She was the first writer to win the Stella Prize twice, in 2018 for her "colle ...

, with some in Aboriginal languages. Bennett also contributed vocals to the 2012 Australian film '' The Sapphires'', following her involvement with the 2004 Melbourne stage production.

Honours and recognition

In 2017, Bennett was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. She was invited by the University of New England to give the 2018 Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture. Her "significant service to the performing arts, particularly to music, and to the Indigenous community" was recognised by the award of

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in the 2019 Australia Day Honours. At the 2023 Art Music Awards the artist won Performance of the Year: Notated Composition for ''nyernur'' ''nyarkur'' (to see, to hear) as performed by Omega Ensemble and Lou Bennett.

Theatre projects

*''Magpie'' (2000) – Melbourne Workers Theatre *''Conversations with the Dead'' (2001) – Ilbijerri Theatre, Playbox, La Mama *''Yanagai! Yanagai!'' (2003) – Melbourne Workers Theatre, Playbox *''The Sapphires'' (2004) – Melbourne Theatre Company *'' Show Us Your Tiddas!'' (2007) – Melbourne Workers Theatre *''Our Home Our Land'' (2011) – Boites 2009 Millennium Chorus

References

External links

black arm bandUniversity of Melbourne profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Lou Living people 20th-century Australian LGBTQ people 21st-century Australian LGBTQ people 20th-century Australian women singers 21st-century Australian women singers 20th-century Australian singer-songwriters 21st-century Australian singer-songwriters Academic staff of the University of Melbourne APRA Award winners Australian lesbian musicians Australian LGBTQ singer-songwriters Australian musical theatre actresses Australian women guitarists Australian women singer-songwriters Australian women linguists Indigenous Australian actresses Indigenous Australian linguists Indigenous Australian LGBTQ people Indigenous Australian musicians Lesbian singer-songwriters LGBTQ people from Victoria (state) Linguists of Yotayotic languages Linguists of Kulinic languages Members of the Order of Australia Musicians from Victoria (state) People from Echuca RMIT University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)