Aaron Corn BAMus(Hons) MPhil Grif PhD Melb
ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology
Music Chair of Research

T: +61 2 6125 1228
E: aaron.corn@anu.edu.au

Areas of expertise · Research interests · Publications · Creative and media work · Projects and grants

Dr Aaron Corn is an ARC Future Fellow in Ethnomusicology at ANU, and is the first academic from a Creative Arts background to hold this prestigious Commonwealth award. He holds disciplinary backgrounds in Music, Museum Studies and Australian Indigenous Studies, and his research also intersects with Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Law, Acoustics, Archival Studies and Information Systems. He is currently a Director the National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia, which responds to Indigenous aspirations to develop strategies for cultural survival in the Digital Age, and fosters a broad network of cultural practitioners, curators and scholars that meets at the annual Symposium on Indigenous Music and Dance. Before joining ANU in 2010, Dr Corn worked in the Australian Indigenous Studies Program at the University of Melbourne under Prof Marcia Langton (2001–03), and held an ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Sydney, where he worked in the Arts Music Program (2004–06) and the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (2007–09).

Areas of expertise

• Ethnomusicology
• Global popular musics
• Modernity and postmodernity in 20th century music
• Applied and engaged musicological methods
• Audiovisual recording and digital archiving
• Musical instrument organology
• Cultural heritage collections management
• Australian Indigenous studies
• Knowledge, embodiment and performativity
• Australian Indigenous languages and song traditions
• Didjeridu repertoires and performance practice
• Globalisation and cultural survival
• Indigenous law and property management
• Indigenous researchers development
• Copyright and intellectual property
• Cultural diplomacy through the arts
• Globalisation and political economies of performance cultures
• Intercultural and interdisciplinary research and teaching methods

Research interests

Dr Corn works to develop new understandings of endangered intellectual traditions that remain fundamental to Indigenous cultural survival in remote Australia, and inform contemporary Indigenous engagements across different legal systems and cultures. Focusing on Indigenous initiatives in music and dance, festivals and film, recording and archiving, and law and politics since 1950, his research foregrounds the unique perspectives of Indigenous elders on current public and academic debates over the cultural, economic and political futures of their remote communities. His recent book, Reflections and Voices, explores the leadership and creative agency of Mandawuy Yunupingu in Yothu Yindi, and links the work of this famous Australian band to the bicultural education revolution in Indigenous schools in the 1980s, the growth of Aboriginal Reconciliation in the 1990s, the continuing struggle for the constitutional recognition of Indigenous legal traditions, and current strategies for intercultural outreach through the Garma Festival of Traditional Culture.

Dr Corn collaborates with the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) and the National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia to field test new digital recording technologies and archiving protocols, and he works with Indigenous elders to create seminal records of their endangered performance traditions. He also works closely with Indigenous elders and scholars to identify and repatriate their material culture from collections worldwide. In particular, his work with Dr Joseph Gumbula from Arnhem Land on rights management and access to Indigenous cultural heritage from Arnhem Land has affected new approaches to curatorial policies and practices among numerous major collections. Dr Corn plays yidaki ‘didjeridu’ in the traditional Manikay style from Arnhem Land under Dr Gumbula’s direction. He has also produced traditional performers from Arnhem Land in a variety of concerts at major events and venues including the Garma Festival, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, Womadelaide and the National Museum of Australia, and a production of Crossing Roper Bar by the Australian Art Orchestra at ANU. Through his current ARC Future Fellowship, Dr Corn works in collaboration with PARADISEC and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands to apply Semantic Web techniques to digital archives management for endangered cultural resources.

Publications

• Corn, A 2011 ‘Treaty now: Popular music and the Indigenous struggle for justice in contemporary Australia’, in I Peddie (ed.), Popular Music and Human Rights 2: World Music (Farnham, Ashgate) pp. 17–26.
• Corn, A 2011 ‘Sound exchanges: An ethnomusicologist’s approach to interdisciplinary teaching and learning in collaboration with a remote Indigenous Australian community’ The World of Music 51.3: 19–48.
• Corn, A 2010 ‘Land, song, constitution: Exploring expressions of ancestral agency, intercultural diplomacy and family legacy in the music of Yothu Yindi with Mandawuy Yunupingu’ Popular Music 29: 81–102.
• Corn, A 2009 Reflections and Voices: Exploring the Music of Yothu Yindi with Mandawuy Yunupingu (Sydney, Sydney University Press).
• Gumbula, J, A Corn and J Mant 2009 ‘Matjabala mali’ buku-runganmaram: Implications for archives and access in Arnhem Land’ Archival Science 8: 7–14.
• Corn, A 2008 ‘Ancestral, corporeal, corporate: Traditional Yolngu understandings of the body explored’ Borderlands 7.2: http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol7no2_2008/corn_ancestral.htm.
• Corn, A 2008 ‘The National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia: Safeguarding cultural survival in remote Australia’ Copyright Reporter 26: 112–15.
• Corn, A 2008 ‘Outside the hollow log: The didjeridu, globalisation and socioeconomic contestation in Arnhem Land’, in A & R Sarwal (eds), Creative Nation: Australian Cinema and Cultural Studies Reader (New Delhi, SSS Publications) pp. 491–506.
• Gumbula, J, A Corn & J Mant 2008 ‘Matjabala mali’ buku-runganmaram: Implications for archives and access in Arnhem Land’ in The 4th International Conference on the History of Records and Archives: Conference Papers, 3–5 August 2008 (Perth, University of Western Australia) pp. 151–9.
• Corn, A 2007 ‘To see their fathers’ eyes: Expressions of ancestry, fraternity and masculinity in the music of popular bands from Arnhem Land, Australia’ in F Jarman-Ivens (ed.), Oh Boy! Masculinities and Popular Music (Oxford, Routledge) pp. 77–99.
• Corn, A & J Gumbula 2007 ‘Budutthun ratja wiyinymirri: Formal flexibility in the Yolngu Manikay tradition and the challenge of recording a complete repertoire’ Australian Aboriginal Studies 2007.2: 116–27.
• Corn, A 2007 ‘A legacy of hope: Mandawuy Yunupingu on meaning and Yolngu agency in the music of Yothu Yindi’ Context 31: 123–36.
• Corn, A & J Gumbula 2006 ‘Rom and the Academy repositioned: Binary models in Yolngu intellectual traditions and their application to wider inter-cultural dialogues’ in L Russell (ed.), Boundary Writing: An Exploration of Race, Culture and Gender Binaries in Contemporary Australia (Honolulu, University of Hawai’i Press) pp. 170–97.
• Marett, A et al. 2006 ‘The National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia: Year one in review’, in N Jeanneret & G Gardiner (eds), Backing Our Creativity: The National Education and the Arts Symposium, 2005 (Sydney, Australia Council for the Arts) pp. 84–90.
• Corn, A 2005 ‘When the waters will be one: Hereditary performance traditions and the Yolngu reinvention of post-Barunga intercultural discourses’ Journal of Australian Studies no. 84: 15–30.
• Corn, A 2005 ‘Ancestral precedent as creative inspiration: The influence of Soft Sands on popular song composition in Arnhem Land’ in G Ward & A Muckle (eds), The Power of Knowledge, the Resonance of Tradition: Electronic Publication of Papers from the AIATSIS Conference, September 2001 (Canberra, AIATSIS) pp. 31–68.
• Corn, A 2004 ‘Now Balanda say we lost our land in 1788: Challenges to the recognition of Yolngu law in contemporary Australia’ in M Langton et al. (eds), Honour among Nations? Treaties and Agreements with Indigenous Peoples (Melbourne, Melbourne U Publishing) pp. 101–14.
• Corn, A 2003 ‘Djiliwirri ganha dhärranhana, wänga limurrunggu: The creative foundations of a Yolngu popular song’ Australasian Music Research 7: 55–66.
• Corn, A 2003 ‘Outside the hollow log: The didjeridu, globalisation and socioeconomic contestation in Arnhem Land’ Rural Society 13: 244–57.
• Corn, A 2002 ‘Burr-gi wargugu ngu-ninya rrawa: The Letterstick Band and hereditary ties to estate through song’ Musicology Australia 25: 76–101.
• Corn, A 2001 Ngukurr Crying: Male Youth in a Remote Indigenous Community (Wollongong, U Wollongong).

Creative and media work

• Corn, A (didjeridu) 2011 ‘Malibirr Manikay’ in J Gumbula (dir.) (Beijing, Capital Museum) [exhibition opening concert].
• Corn, A & A Marett 2011 ‘To proclaim they still exist: The contemporary Yolngu performance of historical Makassan contact’, in A Duschatzky and S Holt (eds), Trepang: China and the story of Makassan–Aboriginal trade (Melbourne, University of Melbourne) pp. 73–9 [exhibition catalogue essay].
• Corn, A 2010 ‘Reflections and Voices’ on J Ulman (prod.), Into the Music (Sydney, ABC Radio National) [national radio documentary].
• Gumbula, J (voice) & A Corn (didjeridu) 2010 ‘Baripuy Manikay’ (Canberra, ANU) [public concert].
• Corn, A (exec. prod.) 2010 Crossing Roper Bar by the Australian Art Orchestra (Canberra, ANU) [public concert].
• Corn, A 2010 ‘Yothu Yindi’s Tribal Voice’ on G Wood (prod.), The Rhythm Divine (Sydney, ABC Radio National) [national radio documentary].
• Gumbula, J (voice) & A Corn (didjeridu) 2009 ‘Makarr-garma: Aboriginal collections from a Yolngu perspective’ (Sydney, Macleay Museum) [public concert].
• Corn, A (prod.) 2009 ‘Currents from a distant shore: Birrkili Yolngu songs of Makassan contact in northeast Arnhem Land’ by the Gupapuyngu Dancers (Canberra, National Museum of Australia) [public concert].
• Corn, A (didjeridu) et al. 2008 ‘Global spirit: Indigenous showcase’ (Toronto, University of Toronto) [public concert].
• Gumbula, J (voice) & A Corn (didjeridu) 2008 ‘Honey from the paperbark tree: Traditional songs from Arnhem Land’ (Belfast, Queen’s University) [public concert].
• Gumbula, J (voice, didjeridu) & A Corn (didjeridu) 2008 ‘Music and memory in Arnhem Land’ (Sydney, Macleay Museum) [public concert].
• Gumbula, J (voice, didjeridu) & A Corn (didjeridu) 2008 ‘Discovering the music of Arnhem Land’ (Sydney, Macleay Museum) [public concert].
• Corn, A 2008 ‘A work of rare integrity’ (Melbourne, Australian Art Orchestra) http://aao.com.au/projects/programs/review/crossing-roper-bar/2 [public concert review].
• Corn, A & J Gumbula 2008 ‘Manikay: Ancestral songs of Arnhem Land’ on G Wood (prod.), The Rhythm Divine (Sydney, ABC Radio National) [national radio documentary].
• Corn, A 2008 ‘Aboriginal Australia’ on R Sticklor (prod.), Earth Tones (Atlanta, WLMB 1690 AM) [national radio documentary].
• Corn, A (prod.) 2007 ‘Yolngu music: Honey from the paperbark tree’ by the Gupapuyngu Dancers (Sydney, Alliance Française) [public concert].
• Corn, A (prod.) 2006 ‘Garma at Womadelaide’ by the Gupapuyngu Dancers (Adelaide, Womadelaide) [three international festival concerts].
• Wallis, A & A Corn (prod.) 2005 ‘La temp du rêve’ by the Yalakun Dancers (Paris, Cité de la Musique) [six-week international concert tour of Kuala Lumpur, Caen, Paris, Châlons-en-Champagne & Grenoble].
• Corn, A (prod.) 2005 ‘An evening in Arnhem Land’ by the Gupapuyngu Dancers (Sydney, Alliance Française) [public concert].
• Corn, A (prod.) 2005 ‘Traditional Indigenous dance’ by the Gupapuyngu Dancers (Darwin, Darwin Festival) [four festival concerts].
• Corn, A (prod.) 2005 ‘National Islander and Aboriginal Art Award Ceremony’ by the Gupapuyngu Dancers and Takbing Siwaliya (Darwin, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory) [award ceremony concert].
• Corn, A (prod.) 2005 ‘Matjabala’ by the Gupapuyngu Dancers (Gulkula, Garma Festival of Traditional Culture) [four international festival concerts].
• Corn, A (prod.) 2004 ‘Murayana is coming to Garma’ by the Gupapuyngu Dancers (Gulkula, Garma Festival of Traditional Culture) [four international festival concerts].
• Corn, A 2003 ‘Songs and stories of the Gälpu clan’ in A Marett (ed.), Djalu’ Teaches and Plays Yidaki no. 2 (Yothu Yindi Foundation, YYF 6) [music album essay].
• Langton, M (dir.) 1999 ‘A didjeridu workshop in Arnhem Land’ on T Collins (prod.) AWAYE! (Darwin, ARC Radio National) [national radio documentary].
• Corn, A 1999 ‘Saltwater music’ on T Collins (prod.), AWAYE! (Darwin, ARC Radio National) [national radio documentary].

Projects and grants

• Dr A Corn 2007– ‘Indigenous community leaders in the Northern Territory’ National Library of Australia Oral History and Folklore Collection (Interviewer)
• Dr A Corn et al. 2004– ‘National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia’ (Director)
• A/Prof L Barwick et al. 2004– ‘Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures’ (Chief Investigator)
• Dr A Corn 2009–13 ‘Indigenising the Semantic Web’ ARC Future Fellowship (ARC Future Fellow)
• Dr A Corn 2011 ‘10th Symposium on Indigenous Music and Dance’ ANU CASS Conference Grant (Chief Investigator)
• A/Prof L Barwick et al. 2011 ‘Equipment and facilities upgrade for PARADISEC’ ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (Chief Investigator)
• Prof J Davidson et al. 2011 ‘The music we live by’ UWA Research Collaboration Award (Associate Investigator)
• Dr A Corn 2010 ‘Information technologies and Indigenous communities’ ANU CASS Conference Grant (Chief Investigator)
• Dr A Corn 2010 ‘Information technologies and Indigenous communities’ ANU RSHA External Visitors Support (Chief Investigator)
• Dr A Corn 2008 ‘The longest shadows’ University of Sydney Faculty of Arts Research Support (Chief Investigator)
• Dr A Corn & Dr JN Gumbula 2007–08 ‘Community leaders in Arnhem Land oral history project’ National Library of Australia Oral History and Folklore Program (Oral History Interviewer)
• Mr JN Gumbula & Dr A Corn 2007–08 ‘Elder assessments of early material culture collections from Arnhem Land’ ARC Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development (Mentor)
• Dr A Corn & Prof M Langton 2004–07 ‘When the waters will be one’ ARC Discovery Project (ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellow)
• Dr A Corn 2006 ‘Birrkili dalkarra’ University of Sydney Research and Development Grant (Chief Investigator)
• Dr N Thieberger et al. 2005–06 ‘Access and analytical tools for ethnographic digital media using high speed networks’ ARC Special Research Initiative (Chief Investigator)
• Ms A Tripodi, Dr A Corn & Mr JN Gumbula 2006 ‘Garma at Womadelaide’ Australia Council for the Arts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Presentation and Promotion (Producer)
• Prof A Marett & Dr A Corn 2005 ‘Makassan performers at the Garma Festival’ University of Sydney International Development Fund (Chief Investigator)
• Dr A Corn & Prof A Marett 2005 ‘Realising performance traditions on country’, University of Sydney Research and Development Grant (Chief Investigator)
• Prof J Marett et al. 2005 ‘Planning for the sustainability of the National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia’ ARC Linkage Project (Chief Investigator)
• Dr A Corn 2004 ‘Renegotiating musicology’ University of Sydney SSCP Strategic Development (Chief Investigator)
• A/Prof L Hollenberg et al. 2003 ‘Acoustics of the didjeridu’ ARC Discovery Project (Research Fellow)
• Prof J Bern et al. 2000–01 ‘Southeast Arnhem Land collaborative research project’ Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund (Associate Fellow)
• Mr A Corn 1998–2000 ‘Arnhem Land blues’ AIATSIS Research Grant (Chief Investigator)