Olive Knight
Walmatjarri Elder
Wangkajungka, Kimberley, WA
Walmatjarri Elder, Olive Knight hails from the remote desert community of Wangkatjungka, southeast of Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia.
Born under a Bauhinia tree, to a half-caste father in an era when it was customary to kill half-blood children, her first day was almost her last.
Fortunate to be saved by an Elder, her childhood however, would be bleak after being removed from her parents by authorities. Raised across various missions, she was rarely permitted access to her family.
Music became a constant source of comfort throughout her life. Some of her earliest memories are imprinted with the sounds of traditional songs sung around a campfire, on country. Later she would sing with mission gospel choirs and in their churches.
Young Olive had an instant affinity with blues music after hearing it on the radio. The beats reminded her of the repetitive sounds and rhythms of traditional music from her West Kimberley home country.
A born collaborator, she went on to partner with various artists and performers while evolving her own unique fusion of gospel and blues. Her singing and songwriting eventually captured the attention of actor, Hugh Jackman, who invited her to perform and tour internationally with his Back to Broadway show. She shared her stories and her culture through song.
Songwriting for Olive is synonymous with storytelling. Dedicated to the preservation and sharing of Indigenous language and culture, she was instrumental in developing the Walmatjarri dictionary and is a respected interpreter and translator.
Despite having graced some of the biggest stages across the globe, her unwavering commitment has always been to her desert community, which Olive loves but candidly describes as being a place of heartache, heartbreak, drugs and alcohol.
She is recognised as a national powerhouse within the arena of substance abuse, in particular fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in Indigenous communities. Her determination to bring greater awareness to this issue and her courageous prevention efforts are widely acknowledged as being both fearless and groundbreaking.
Olive believes music is an essential part of helping her people heal.
Artist: Russell James
Size: 152cm x 152cm
Medium: Canvas
Artist: Russell James
Size: 304cm x 152cm
Medium: Canvas