Echoes

Artist Goma (Hiroki Morimoto) will hold a special solo didgeridoo concert for one day only in Sydney as part of the Echoes event series presented by The Japan Foundation, Sydney.

Echoes will feature Goma's didgeridoo music, performing a blend of the didgeridoo's signature earthy sound and his own contemporary interpretation of the instrument.

The event will start with a Welcome to Country ceremony by Aunty Donna Ingram.

Date: 25 February 2017
Time: 3pm (Doors open 2:30pm)
Duration: 60mins
Admission: Free, tickets required
Venue: John Painter Hall @ Australian Institute of Music
1-55 Foveaux Street Surry Hills NSW 2010
Access: Nearest train station is Central

View the full event program exploring more music such as shakuhachi and didgeridoo collaborations and Ainu music.

About Goma

Born in Osaka, Japan in 1973, Goma first encountered the didgeridoo in 1994 when his friends brought one home from England’s Glastonbury music festival. Three years later, when he was working in a didgeridoo shop in Darwin, an Aboriginal friend took him to Arnhem Land where he studied the instrument under yidaki master craftsman Djalu Gurruwiwi and went on to become the first non-Indigenous person to win the Northern Land Council prize at the 1998 Barunga Didgeridoo Competition. During this time, Goma lived with the Yolngu people and was adopted into the Galpu clan.

Upon returning to Tokyo two years later, Goma founded Jungle Rhythm Section, a highly respected band which blends Jungle and World Music with Goma’s contemporary interpretation of the didgeridoo.

A life changing event

Goma’s passion for the didgeridoo helped him enormously after a life changing event in 2009, when he was involved in a near-fatal car accident resulting in traumatic cerebral damage. Suffering from amnesia, he struggled to form new memories. His surgeon, knowing his love of the didgeridoo, suggested that one be brought to his bedside. This helped him with his long process of physical and memory rehabilitation as he slowly started to recall how to play.

Just days after coming out of his coma, Goma also felt the compulsion to paint. Picking up his daughter's paint set, he started work on a series of striking dot paintings. Goma’s artwork bears a strong resemblance to indigenous dot paintings, but is infused with classic Japanese aesthetics and landscapes. His intention was not to appropriate indigenous art. Instead, as with the didgeridoo, he has embraced it as a source of inspiration and strength while creating a cultural bridge.