Laniyuk & Temu

Laniyuk

Laniyuk is a Larrakia, Kungarakan, Gurindji and French political creative whose art practice is grounded in cultural, language and land reclamation. In January 2024 she launched a campaign for the Return of Lee Point to Larrakia people to stop the destruction of sacred ceremonial and Dreaming sites in Darwin by the military and NT government. She writes and performs poetry, speculative fiction, is a visual artist and is working towards documentary and film.

Temu Suyan

Temu Suyan broke out as a talented writer through many literary awards, including the Taiwan Literature Awards for Original Works in Indigenous Poetry and the Taiwan Indigenous Literature Awards, even before his debut publication. Temu’s much anticipated first book, Fishbone, the poetry collection, won him the once in a lifetime New Bud Award for debuting writers of the year in the 2024 Taiwan Literature Awards.

Temu is part Atayal from the New Kayo Tribes (Slamaw) in Heping District, Taichung City on his father’s side and part Bunun from Namasia District, Kaohsiung City on his mother’s side. He was named “Temu” after his paternal grandmother’s father according to Atayal tradition.

Having left his tribes since childhood, Temu grew up in the city. It was not until college did he start to write creatively. While he studied at the Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Chengchi University, his field research led him to a deeper understanding of his tribal culture, language and history. Most of his writings depict the disassociation and compromises that the contemporary indigenous communities face when it comes to current social issues. Often viewed as a prominent poet and refreshing voice of his generation, Temu can be humorous, sarcastic or even absurd in crafting his words which truly makes him one of a kind.

The project is curated by Blak & Bright and delivered by the Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature Office, with support from Creative Australia.