Indigenous performing artist Karla Hart named as a finalist at the Western Australian of the Year Awards

Ground-breaking Gnowangerup-born Indigenous performance artist Karla Hart has been named as a finalist for the Aboriginal Award at this year’s Western Australian of the Year Awards. A former Katanning Senior High School student, Ms Hart spoke to the Herald about the significance of National Sorry Day on May 26 and National Reconciliation Week for her family. The week starts today and runs until June 3. “A lot of my family are members of the Stolen Generation,” she said. “My nan raised me and she had two of her children taken away from her, and I know that caused her and them a great deal of pain. “She did not get reunited with them for 50 years. “There are so many horrible stories of trauma that I have been told first-hand. “We now live in generations where people don’t understand Indigenous history and they are not looking at the trauma that is only skin deep ... the history is so fresh, the trauma is still fresh and it is inter-generational trauma.” Ms Hart is being recognised at the Western Australian of the Year Awards for her pioneering multi-platform role in helping bring Noongar culture to centre-stage. Through her dance group Kwabah Djookian and the Wardarnji Festival, she has been instrumental in opening up opportunities for Indigenous dance, music, language and Dreamtime stories to be put on a stage and told freely in the community. “English is a language that is spoken all around the world — our languages have only come from here and that is really special. We are the first Australians and the true original culture of this country and that should be respected,” she said. “Our dances, our songs, our Dreamtime stories and our cultural traditions are authentically from this country and from nowhere else, and that deserves to be showcased, that deserves to be celebrated by everyone in this country. “Noongar people were not allowed to dance or speak our language at one point in history, but now we live in a time where we can do that and we owe it to our people to put it on centre-stage.” Outside her organising roles, Ms Hart has also forged a successful career in radio and film. She is the co-executive producer of NITV series Yokayi Footy and she played Bella and Kerry in Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company’s King Hit. Ms Hart also co-wrote Black as Michael Jackson and co-created Fifty Shades of Black which was a sellout at Fringe World Festival. Ms Hart said she was proud of the work she had done over the years, but felt sad that her grandmother did not live to see her productions. She is one of five finalists in the Aboriginal Award category. Tambellup-raised businessman and sports administrator Richard Goyder AO is a finalist for the Community Award. The winners of the eight categories, including the overall Western Australian of the Year, will be announced at the Crown Ballroom on June 4.