Indigenous singer-songwriter Kutcha Edwards has revealed a connection to Bendigo.
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The Mutti Mutti, Yorta Yorta and Nari Nari man has a lot of Djaara relatives and used to visit Bendigo as a child.
He also spoke with aspiring teachers at La Trobe University and helped officially open Ulumbarra Theatre in 2015.
Only a month ago he was at the theatre as part of the touring RocKwiz show.
On June 15 Edwards will return to Ulumbarra with his own show - Circling Time.
"I love that space," he said of Ulumbarra. "I was involved in that official opening with David Bridie, cousin Jackie (Charles).
"They created a show with musicians connected to the Djaara people, Benny Walker, Tjimba Possum-Burns, myself as a Yorta Yorta man and others.
"As a kid, I remember going on holidays (to Bendigo). They used to send us off and I remember going to Bendigo as a kid with my brother Wally, who is no longer with us. I remember the lake for some reason.
"And that's what the show is about, memories tapping you on the shoulder and giving you deja vu."
Circling Time is based on his 2021 album of the same name and involves a lot of storytelling.
What started as 75-minute shows stretches longer and longer depending on the stories Edwards tells about his life.
"I don't have a script, I have points and a set agenda on what I want to talk about, then the memories will come to me," he said. "That's what show is specifically about."
Depending on the stories, setting and audience, some shows can be more emotional than others for Edwards.
He said he hoped some of the stories would help non-Indigenous people join the conversation around First Nations reconciliation.
"My role in the scheme of things is to drop an imaginary pebble in an imaginary pond and create a ripple," he said.
"The ripple is not determined by Kutcha Edwards. It's determined by each individual in the in audience.
"Whether it is a negative or a positive ripple - I can't determine that. I just realise my role is to drop the pebble - that stone - in a way to let people know what it is like to be me.
"What non-Aboriginal need to understand is we are putting a mirror up in front on non-Indigenous Australia and asking 'if you don't like what you see, isn't it time to change perspectives on who we are and what we represent?'
"What needs happen is non-Indigenous people need to enter in the conversation."
Edwards said he also hoped to see a number of First Nations people from central Victoria at his show.
"It would be beautiful to see as many of the mob there as possible," he said. "The Djaara people, I have a lot of relatives that are Djaara people.
"Come so you can be part of entering the conversation. That's why I do what I do, in the hope non-Aboriginal Australians start to enter the conversation."
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