In March 2026, GUURANDA x KMMC will premiere in Chennai, marking a major international collaboration between Narungga/ Kaurna Artistic Director Jacob Boehme, KM Music Conservatory, and Shreya Nagarajan Singh Arts Development Consultancy.
This landmark cultural exchange adapts the acclaimed mainstage production Guuranda, the Narungga name for Yorke Peninsula, where the creation stories shared in the work are held, originally commissioned and presented by Adelaide Festival in 2024.
GUURANDA x KMMC reimagines the work as a community-engaged, participatory public ceremony. The Chennai presentation extends the original intentions of Guuranda: to protect, revitalise, and share Narungga culture, language and creation stories, and to leave a legacy of deepened cross-cultural understanding.
Over the past year, students at KM Music Conservatory have been learning Narungga culture through online yarns with Narungga Elders and collaborating with Boehme and Narungga Songwoman Sonya Rankine, to re-arrange the Guuranda soundtrack. The choir at the conservatory will perform the score in Narungga language, sharing it publicly in India for the first time.
Narungga Elder Aunty Lynette Newchurch said the project reflects a deep cultural responsibility to ensure stories are shared with care and integrity.
“For Narungga people, sharing our stories is a responsibility given by our Old People. To see young people in India learning our language and singing our creation stories is something we never imagined. It shows our culture is strong, and it shows the respect between our communities. This project is important because it keeps our stories alive and helps them travel the right way, with care, with guidance, and with family.”
Aunty Lynette is part of a small group of Narungga Elders and company artists travelling to Chennai to co-create the final performance with local choir members, dancers and puppeteers.
Travelling with a small international team is a deliberate choice, reflecting an environmentally responsible concept-touring and cultural exchange model grounded in Narungga and First Nations principles of caring for Country. Instead of transporting large sets, costumes or infrastructure, the creative team works with local artists, materials and teams in each city, reducing freight emissions while deepening community engagement. This model is being developed as a prototype for future sustainable international touring of First Nations performance.
Artistic Director Jacob Boehme said the Chennai premiere marks an important evolution of the original Guuranda work.
“GUURANDA x KMMC is more than a performance, it is a living exchange, a responsibility, and an offering. I’m deeply grateful to the Elders, students, teachers and artists who have embraced Narungga language and story with such respect and enthusiasm. This project is a glimpse of the future we’re building: one where culture is carried sustainably, shared generously, and kept strong through relationships.”
The collaboration will be shared via public performances, 21 – 22 March, at Tower Park, Anna Nagar, Chennai where the audience will join the company to perform the work as a collective ceremony.
GUURANDA X KMCC will be live-streamed from Chennai on 22 March at 6pm IST (11.30pm AEDT/ 11pm ACDT/ 10.30pm AEST/ 8.30pm AWST) a shared ceremony across continents, available to watch online for 48 hours.
Learn more at https://www.jacobboehme.com.au/ Follow along on Instagram @guuranda_x
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