Item details
Item ID
WM2-046a
Title Black Paradise - Spirit of Mambesak
Description West Papuan cultural music group
Black Paradise release their stunning debut album
West Papua has been in the news a lot recently. The arrival of 43 West Papuan asylum seekers on Australian shores and the discovery of a veritable Garden of Eden in the forest shrouded Foja Mountains has catapulted the story of West Papua into mainstream public attention.
‘Spirit of Mambesak’, the debut album by rising West Papuan cultural and musical sensation Black Paradise evokes both the mystery of this breathtakingly beautiful land and through song and poetry, words and image tells something of the story that compels 43 West Papuans to make a perilous ocean crossing in a traditional canoe to seek freedom.
‘Spirit of Mambesak’ features both string band and traditional music from diverse highland, island, and coastal communities from around West Papua. Producer David Bridie comments that “Black Paradise’s music is based around guitars, skin drums, ukulele and soaring four part harmony vocals that draw on ancient songs from their land of jagged and rugged highlands and tropical coastlines…songs from the bush; earthy throat-based vocals; soulful rhythms; haunting laments; and upbeat hip swinging sensual tunes punctuated with infectious joy”.
The album concludes with a bonus track, ‘West Papua’: a rousing tribute to freedom written and sung by internationally acclaimed fellow Melanesian, George Telek. Telek, who usually refrains from political songs, wrote the track after being deeply touched when he met the band when they performed together in Melbourne recently.

Black Paradise frontman, Ferry Marisan; says that the bands message is to “show that West Papuan culture is still alive." Indeed Black Paradise's lyrics paint pictures of liberation. The core members of Black Paradise work for the amnesty international-type organisation Elsham (Institute for the Study and Advocacy of Human Rights) who investigate human rights in the troubled territory, accompany local communities as they assert their rights, and educate the rest of the world about the beauty of West Papuan culture. The profit from the sale of each CD supports the work of Elsham and helps Black Paradise develop a viable cultural organisation.

Black Paradise musician Max Binur says that the CD is “a way to introduce the music and songs of West Papua to the international community, to show that West Papuans, not unlike other ethnic groups around the world, also have their own distinctive culture.”

The music is complemented by a stunning full-colour booklet outlining the story of West Papua written in both Indonesian and English, and containing the lyrics – sung in an array of indigenous West Papuan languages – accompanied by Indonesian and English translations, all interspersed with striking photo’s from Black Paradises hugely successful 2003 Australian tour.

The albums title, ‘Spirit of Mambesak’ evokes the name and memory of the music group established by West Papuan musicologist and anthropologist Arnold Ap in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Arnold Ap, West Papua’s own Victor Jara, ventured around the territory collecting and recording the songs and dances of his people, nurturing and promoting West Papuan identity. In 1984 he was jailed and assassinated by the Indonesian military. His only crime was that he sung the songs of his people.
The album was recorded during Black Paradise’s visit to Melbourne for the hugely popular Morning Star Concert for West Papua in 2003. Spirit of Mambesak is being released internationally on the Blunt label and is in stores now. http://www.mana.com.au/blackparadise/
Origination date
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/046a
URL
Collector
David Bridie
Countries
Language as given
Subject language(s)
Content language(s)
Dialect
Region / village Oceania
Originating university University of Sydney
Operator Jodie Kell
Data Categories
Data Types
Discourse type
Roles
DOI 10.26278/h6qa-1h52
Cite as David Bridie (collector). Black Paradise - Spirit of Mambesak. MPEG/WAV/PDF. WM2-046a at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/h6qa-1h52
Content Files (27)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
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WM2-046a-001.wav audio/wav 168 MB 00:05:06.266
WM2-046a-002.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.42 MB 00:03:44.235
WM2-046a-002.wav audio/wav 123 MB 00:03:44.199
WM2-046a-003.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.06 MB 00:03:20.384
WM2-046a-003.wav audio/wav 110 MB 00:03:20.332
WM2-046a-004.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.79 MB 00:04:08.215
WM2-046a-004.wav audio/wav 136 MB 00:04:08.187
WM2-046a-005.mp3 audio/mpeg 5.2 MB 00:05:40.427
WM2-046a-005.wav audio/wav 187 MB 00:05:40.387
WM2-046a-006.mp3 audio/mpeg 5.61 MB 00:06:07.386
WM2-046a-006.wav audio/wav 202 MB 00:06:07.360
WM2-046a-007.mp3 audio/mpeg 4.88 MB 00:05:20.26
WM2-046a-007.wav audio/wav 176 MB 00:05:19.987
WM2-046a-008.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.46 MB 00:03:46.820
WM2-046a-008.wav audio/wav 125 MB 00:03:46.787
WM2-046a-009.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.58 MB 00:03:54.631
WM2-046a-009.wav audio/wav 129 MB 00:03:54.586
WM2-046a-010.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.09 MB 00:03:22.552
WM2-046a-010.wav audio/wav 111 MB 00:03:22.507
WM2-046a-011.mp3 audio/mpeg 5.46 MB 00:05:57.589
WM2-046a-011.wav audio/wav 196 MB 00:05:57.547
WM2-046a-012.mp3 audio/mpeg 2.87 MB 00:03:08.342
WM2-046a-012.wav audio/wav 103 MB 00:03:08.306
WM2-046a-013.pdf application/pdf 3.45 MB
25 files -- 1.78 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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