Performance
Ata Ratu (musician)

Ata Ratu has been playing the four-stringed Jungga instrument, and writing and singing in her native language Kambera since the age of 13. Her performance will reflect on the narrative of food as a vital ingredient for social gathering and its manifestation within local wisdoms and knowledge. In her songs, Ata Ratu expresses, mourns or critically comments on how modernisation has changed the way humans relate to nature, leading to a shift in the way we respect what nature provides in terms of our needs. She sings of the loss of the soul connection between humans and their foods, and how the tradition of communal meals has faded away, as food is now often seen as a personal choice.