Many Australians were astonished, recently, to discover an artist named Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu when he performed at the ARIA Awards 2008 (something like the Australian Grammy awards), which were broadcast live (right after Australian Idol). Though many were familiar with his work before that show, there is no doubt that he won many fans who had never even heard of him before. Now it's your turn ;)

Gurrumul was born blind, and never learned to read Braille or use a cane. He was raised in an Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land, a region that is extraordinarily beautiful but (except for a couple of tourist hot spots) visited by very few. He is left-handed, but since he never had a left-handed guitar, when he was young he learned to play a right-handed guitar upside down. His English is imperfect, but sheesh, how many languages is a man meant to learn? He mostly sings in Yolngu matha (Yolngu languages) like Gumatj or Djambarrpuynu, though sometimes in English.

I won't try to describe his music. It's been called angelic, haunting, ethereal. For myself, I think it is difficult not to be moved by it. But don't take it from me; just have a listen:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Qbvud4cWA

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=bawDFY8G-o4

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1VWdi3Z32sc

http://au.youtube.com/user/gurrumul

The situation of many Aboriginal communities in Australia is deeply troubling - and too much to go into in a post like this. Like racial problems all over the world, it is replete with self-fulfilling prophecies: the racist Australian who is inclined to see Aboriginal problems as the fault of Aboriginals can easily find individual examples to support her views, and this slows any progress in attitudes severely. The linearity of Australian history in this area - millennia of occupation by Aboriginal groups, and a relatively recent, overwhelming European colonial invasion - should make finding justice simpler, but in many ways makes it harder. We have not yet found a formula for alleviating problems like Aboriginal poverty and ill health that doesn't also threaten traditional culture. Political corruption has also been a problem at times.

And in saying all that, I am also conscious that in referring to "Aboriginal poverty", I am really only talking about a subset of the Australian Aboriginal population - of course there are many people of Aboriginal descent who don't live in remote communities and who face completely different challenges. I would like to write about this more but for now, I wanted to draw some attention to Gurrumul's music.

He is powerfully, unmistakably Aboriginal in appearance. It's impossible to watch him sing and not notice this, no matter what language he is singing in, and I have no doubt that everyone in his audience responds to the way he looks. I don't know if this is important, or whether it discloses anything bad about my own prejudices or superficiality, but how fascinating to consider that Gurrumul, whose physical appearance is so evocative, has never been able to see himself in a mirror! As strange as it is to be singled out as a member of a minority, it must seem even stranger when you have no way of seeing the "difference" that everyone else sees. Gurrumul is reputedly extraordinarily shy, and has been able to avoid being drawn on political questions. I would love to hear his perspective on race in Australia, though.

From what I can gather, he also is a man of considerable humility. In an interview on www.vibe.com.au (Gurrumul's answers were translated by his friend Michael Hohnen), he says, "I just want to keep playing and singing. I hope I can make some money for me and for my family. This would make my family even more proud of me. I am still learning about what it is to make it into the charts. I feel it makes me a little bit famous but I am not sure." He would probably not be offended, then, at the somewhat extraordinary fact that one of the two ARIA awards he won was for "Best World Music Album". For the rest of us, though, it's certainly food for thought: these are the Australian Recording Industry Association Awards, and a remarkable album by an Indigenous Australian is relegated to the World Music category!

I encourage anyone with an interest in music to check out Gurrumul. Why? Well, in his words: "I just want them [his audience] to be happy, to listen to Yolngu music and enjoy it and like it. But I also want them to learn about Yolngu and how we have a lot of good stories."