Smith Street Dreaming Is About One Street, Many Mobs

A collaborative effort between community members and local organisations based on and around Smith Street, Collingwood, Smith Street Dreaming is a project of the Smith Street Working Group, the Neighbourhood Justice Centre, Yarra City Council and various other community organisations in the area. Now in its second year as part of Leaps & Bounds Music Festival, this year sees a line-up that includes Archie Roach, the legendary Coloured Stone, members of the local community and an escapee from Sydney, former Stiff Gin and now solo artist Emma Donovan. “Last year I was doing some backing vocals for Uncle Bart Willoughby,” Donovan explains, “me and Deline Briscoe, who is another singer that I work a lot with down this way. She sings in the Black Arm Band and she’s been based in Melbourne for a long time, but she’s an Aboriginal woman from up around north Queensland. We sang on Uncle Bart Willoughby’s last album, Proud, so we sang this time last year for it. It was awesome, and Jason Tamiru, I’ve known him from his work at Malthouse, doing Blak Cabaret and all that kind of stuff, and being part of some of their productions and that. They just asked us to come along and do it, and we’re looking forward to it.”

"Something I’m always really proud of in Melbourne, that there are a lot of gatherings for blackfellas I’ve noticed."

Donovan moved down to Melbourne in 2011, so she’s still getting to know the community. It’s all about building better relationships between the people who live and work in Smith Street by “fostering understanding, respect and peace”. To that end, Smith Street Dreaming is about bringing the local community together and celebrating and recognising the Wurundjeri people as the first owners, who remain custodians of the cultural heritage attached to the place. Hence the festival theme: One Street. Many Mobs. One Community. It’s very much a family affair, kicking off at 1pm and drug- and alcohol-free. “There seems to me, too, something I’m always really proud of in Melbourne, that there are a lot of gatherings for blackfellas I’ve noticed. There’s a lot of support from the bigger community, not just the Koori thing, you know? It’s everybody coming along to support and enjoy the day.”

Last year saw Donovan teaming up with The Putbacks, with whom she’ll be performing, and releasing an album, Dawn, last November. The collaboration came out of her work with Black Arm Band, which she joined in 2006. “We’re almost like family now with the rhythm section. The bass player [Mick Meagher] and drummer [Rory McDougall], they were the guys that were part of The Putbacks as well. We’d been wantin’ to play music for a long time, so when I finally moved down here, we just wanted to keep writin’ and ended up recordin’ a little album of which I’m pretty proud.”