Item details
Item ID
WM2-001
Title A Bit Na Ta
Description a Bit na Ta: The Source Of The Sea

a Bit na Ta in the Kuanua language (Tolai Gunantuna people) means ‘The Source Of The Sea’. It was a project commissioned specifically for the exhibition at the QAGOMA (Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) and Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in 2017.

The film produced is about the experiences of the local Tolai people in the ples (place) of Blanche Bay in East New Britain between 1875 and 1975. Led by celebrated Australian musician, composer and music producer David Bridie, a Bit na Ta brings together Tolai historians, artists, musicians and community members to share their perspectives on the events that shaped this century in and around Blanche Bay.

Tolai historian Gideon Kakabin was the bedrock of the project who had extensive cultural and historical knowledge who understood the intersection of history with Tolai life and experience that has shaped much of the content of a Bit na Ta.

For the Tolai, life and culture are imbued with sound and music. a Bit na Ta draws on the importance of music that is everywhere and as reflected by David Bridie in men sing on the roadsides, women sing working their gardens, kids sing on the beach, teenagers hearing their favourite PNG artists on their phones, listening to distorted local songs travelling on PMVs. Since the Rabaul visit in 1986 by celebrated band Not Drowning Waving in 1986, David Bridie has since been championing the extraordinary music of the country through the Wantok Musik Foundation.

Bridie’s genuine and deeply felt respect for the Tolai people, and theirs for him emerges and imbued in the A Bit na Ta. The close relationship with George Telek, PNG’s most famous practitioner and his Tolai friends and family has led to a suite of new composed songs in the project such as Telek’s own voice, the Moab, Gilnata and Amidel stringbands, the Matupit choir and a group of older Tolai men and women singing a range of customary songs that fully situate the project and history within a Tolai cultural sphere.

a Bit na Ta combines music and other art forms. Collaboration in the project with Melbourne-based artist Lisa Hilli and filmmaker Garett Low has extended a rich aural experience into the visual and sensual realms. Tolai three-part harmonies, captures the emotive power of key events in Tolai history. This history intersects with major world events, including two devastating World Wars, colonisation and political self-determination and the natural disasters of volcanic eruptions.

a Bit na Ta story presents Music of Tolai life and ceremony through new recordings of singsing tumbuna (ceremonial song), string band, lotu choir style and contemporary soundscapes supported with archival film and new footage of the landscape and ceremony.

a Bit na Ta has been over three decades of collaboration between Tolai musician George Telek and Australian musician, composer and producer David Bridie including historian and artist Gideon Kakabin drawing from the Tolai wantok (family) and friends to tell the story in this project.

In Gideon Kakabin’s words about the story,
a Bit na Ta. The source of the sea. Life begins here.

Kuanua
A tinata
Marmari aria bit na ta
I valu e
Ra oaga na pipi

English
The words
come from inside the sea
he paddles
his canoe, a boat of lightening

a Bit Na Ta project was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Source: QAGOMA/Wantok Musik Foundation

(David Bridie & Steven Gagau, March 2025)
Origination date 2017-01-01
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/001
URL
Collector
David Bridie
Countries To view related information on a country, click its name
Language as given
Subject language(s) To view related information on a language, click its name
Content language(s) To view related information on a language, click its name
Dialect
Region / village Blanche Bay, Gazelle Peninsula, East New Britain
Originating university University of Sydney
Operator Jodie Kell
Data Categories song
Data Types Sound
Discourse type singing
Roles Steven Gagau : consultant
Steven Gagau : data_inputter
George Telek : performer
David Bridie : compiler
Michael Manzini : data_inputter
Gideon Kakabin : compiler
Moab Stringband : performer
Gilnata Stringband : performer
Amidel Stringband : performer
Lisa Hilli : consultant
Garrett Low : compiler
Matupit Choir : singer
DOI 10.26278/7zfj-3m38
Cite as David Bridie (collector), Steven Gagau (consultant, data_inputter), George Telek (performer), David Bridie (compiler), Michael Manzini (data_inputter), Gideon Kakabin (compiler), Moab Stringband (performer), Gilnata Stringband (performer), Amidel Stringband (performer), Lisa Hilli (consultant), Garrett Low (compiler), Matupit Choir (singer), 2017. A Bit Na Ta . X-MATROSKA/MP4. WM2-001 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/7zfj-3m38
Content Files (10)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
WM2-001-001.mkv video/x-matroska 63.4 GB 00:35:24.739
WM2-001-001.mp4 video/mp4 6.7 GB 00:35:24.739
WM2-001-002.mkv video/x-matroska 5.22 GB 00:03:10.39
WM2-001-002.mp4 video/mp4 1 GB 00:03:10.39
WM2-001-003.mkv video/x-matroska 1.89 GB 00:01:56.459
WM2-001-003.mp4 video/mp4 163 MB 00:01:56.459
WM2-001-004.mkv video/x-matroska 10.1 GB 00:50:16.320
WM2-001-004.mp4 video/mp4 1.25 GB 00:50:16.320
WM2-001-005.mkv video/x-matroska 250 MB 00:02:18.808
WM2-001-005.mp4 video/mp4 16.3 MB 00:02:18.808
10 files -- 89.9 GB -- --

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Collection Information
Collection ID WM2
Collection title Wantok Musik Foundation (WMF) - Music Label Recordings of Oceania Region.
Description The Wantok Musik Foundation is an Australian-based not-for-profit Music Label that records, releases and promotes culturally infused music from Indigenous Australia, Melanesia and Oceania. The brand “Wantok Musik” is a Melanesian term that reflects talking with a common language “one talk” although in the diverse cultures of the region that may have different sounds, different beats, different instruments, the music we all share is common and singing about the same things such as our history, our lore, our education, our hurts, our joys, our injustices, our struggles, our lives, our communities and our stories. This Collection preserves rich musical talents and artists of the Oceania region where the Wantok Musik Label through album recordings and collaborative projects has fostered cross-cultural initiatives and exchange. Through music and language within the diverse cultures of the region, we hear, share and learn about entertainers, performers and artistic and creative expressions where over the years, the Wantok Musik label has recorded, released and promoted of music from First Nation Australia, Melanesia and Oceania. Wantok Musik promotes local and international profile of First Nation and world music groups based in the region by supporting and providing greater economic opportunity for artists, long-term career sustainability at the same time by managing the various activities addresses social issues with creative and culturally focused approaches.
Countries To view related information on a country, click its name
Languages To view related information on a language, click its name
Access Information
Edit access Mihka Chee
David Bridie
View/Download access Mihka Chee
David Bridie
Data access conditions Closed (subject to the access condition details)
Data access narrative
Metadata
RO-Crate Metadata
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