Lismore-born Rhoda Roberts has been appointed Sydney Opera House’s first head of Indigenous programming.
Announcing the appointment yesterday, arts minister George Souris said, ‘It is fitting that the Opera House – located significantly at Bennelong Point, named after an elder of the Eora people – will be a hub for the development of new, exciting and breakthrough Indigenous arts content.’
Ms Roberts said yesterday the appointment was ‘an absolute honour’.
The proud Bundjalung woman has been a longtime advocate of Indigenous theatre and dance. She was a co-founding member of Australia’s first national Aboriginal theatre company, the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust, and also founded the International Dreaming Festival and was its artistic director between 1995 and 2009.
As part of the role she will oversee an expanded and revitalised Message Sticks Festival at the Opera House and will also establish partnerships with other NSW cultural institutions and other major performing arts companies as well as liaising with an Indigenous advisory group.
