Dr. Reuben Brown

Dr Reuben Brown is a music researcher who has collaborated with ceremony leaders of the kunborrk/manyardi song tradition in western Arnhem Land since 2011 to return archival recordings of song and research the significance of ceremonial performance in the historical and contemporary lives of Bininj/Arrarrkpi and Balanda. Reuben works as Ethnomusicologist and Cultural Archive manager for BKRLCC, supporting multilingual song and dance in western Arnhem Land and Bininj/Arrarrkpi access to and use of their cultural records. Reuben received his PhD from the University of Sydney under the supervision of Professor Linda Barwick (ethnomusicology), Professor Martin Thomas (history) and Dr Paul Dwyer (performance studies). During this time, he lived in Gunbalanya and Warruwi communities and traveled with singers and dancers across Arnhem Land to attend, record and learn kunborrk/manyardi at diplomacy ceremonies, festivals, funerals and community events. Reuben drew on this research for his book The Gift of Song: Performing Exchange in Western Arnhem Land.