Small Island Big Song

Small Island Big Song is in residence with NC State LIVE for a week of events from April 8-12. This collective of Indigenous musicians come from island nations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans – Taiwan, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Easter Island (Chile) – where they are on the front lines of climate change. The Small Island Big Song musicians have come together with filmmakers, oceanographers, scientists, and artists to create a week of extraordinary events. The residency will come to a celebratory close with a concert by Small Island Big Song in Stewart Theatre on Friday, April 12th at 7:30pm. 

Bonus Event: Solar Eclipse Viewing 2:30pm on April 8.

View the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 with artists from Small Island Big Song. Before the University Honors Forum, we’ll meet in front of Witherspoon at 2:30pm with eclipse glasses, while supplies last!

SMALL ISLAND BIG SONG EVENTS

University Honors Forum
APR 8 at 3pm
Witherspoon Cinema

The Pacific and Indian Oceans share a little-known common heritage. Five thousand years ago, people of the Pacific designed ocean-capable canoes and, from a beach in Taiwan, they set sail and settled on islands from Madagascar to Aotearoa (New Zealand), Rapa Nui (Easter Island) to Hawai’i. The descendants of these brave seafarers surpass 400 million people today. 

During this lecture-demonstration, the artists and co-founders of Small Island Big Song will share geographical and historical background about these great oceanic migrations. The musicians will showcase some of the cultural similarities shared by their communities across these vast ocean expanses.

Special thanks to the University Honors Program for sponsoring this event.

Artist Welcome Night
APR 8 at 6pm
Global Courtyard

Join us to give a Wolfpack welcome to the artists of Small Island Big Song. We’ll share North Carolina food and culture and get to know these artists through their traditional songs and dances. NC State’s Native drum group Miskwa Waya will perform alongside a special guest appearance by Paperhand Puppet Intervention.

Help us kick off the Small Island Big Song residency week and show our southern hospitality with this celebration! Refreshments will be provided.

The Global Courtyard is located between Primrose and Tompkins Halls, just a short walk from the Memorial Belltower and Court of North Carolina. Parking is FREE after 5pm in the lot at 020 Watauga Club Dr.

Special thanks to the Office of Global Engagement for helping us to present this event.

Becoming Better Climate Educators – An Interactive Research & Arts Workshop
APR 9 at 1pm
at The Corner

Curious about how to become a better climate educator? Do you have a question in your research that the arts might help you unlock?

This interactive conversation and workshop will offer a creative collision of art and science. Come early to purchase lunch from the food trucks, then join the artists of Small Island Big Song in conversation with Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center’s Global Change Research Fellows. Following the discussion, workshop participants will have the opportunity to explore their own research through different hands-on art techniques.

The Corner is located at the corner of Main Campus Dr. and Research Dr. on Centennial Campus.

Special thanks to NC State’s Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center for sponsoring this event.

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Global Film Series:
Screening of Small Island Big Song film and artist Q&A
APR 9 at 6:30pm
Witherspoon Cinema

Filmed over three years on 16 Island nations across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, this grassroots musical film follows the ocean highways uniting ancient musical lineages. From Madagascar to Rapa Nui/Easter Island, Taiwan to Zenadth Kes/The Torres Strait. This film is a heartfelt plea for environmental awareness and cultural preservation from those on the frontline of the climate crisis.

This FREE film screening will be followed by a Question & Answer session with Small Island Big Song filmmakers Tim Cole and BaoBao Chen.

Special thanks to NC State University Libraries and NC State Office of Global Engagement for sponsoring this event.

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Office of Undergraduate Research
Lunch & Learn
APR 10 at 12pm
Scott Hall, Room 106

Calling all undergraduates interested in the intersection of art and science! Join us for this intimate lunchtime discussion with Small Island Big Song co-founders Tim Cole and BaoBao Chen.

The artists will share the genesis story of Small Island Big Song and discuss their research process and insight into their motivations as artists and storytellers.

Pizza will be provided. Sign up required.

Special thanks to the Office of Undergraduate Research for sponsoring this event.

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Cross-College Climate Conversation
APR 10 at 5pm
Talley Student Union, Room 4280

Climate change is impacting all of us in a variety of ways. We all need to work together to limit further impacts and find sustainable solutions.
Join the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science Climate Leaders Program to learn how multiple colleges are approaching these issues, network with other students and faculty interested in these topics, find new collaborators and be a part of the solution conversation.

Panelists include Matt Bertone (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences), Jorge Mari (College of Humanities and Social Sciences), Kirsten Paige (Dept. of Performing Arts
and Technology), and guests from Small Island Big Song: BaoBao Chen, Tim Cole, and Airileke Ingram.

Refreshments provided. Special thanks to the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science Climate Leaders Program for sponsoring this event.

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Indigenous Women Making Traditional Culture Relevant
APR 11 at 6:30pm
Walnut Creek Wetland Center

Join us for a Panel Discussion with Lumbee singer and songwriter Charly Lowry and musicians from Small Island Big Song.

During this panel, Small Island Big Song artists and Charly Lowry will share their experiences as performers and cultural ambassadors. They will discuss the roles women have traditionally played in their respective cultures and discuss different ways in which they have found support and risen above challenges to realize their potential as artists and leaders in their communities.

Moderated by Small Island Big Song co-founder BaoBao Chen. Light refreshments will be served.

Special thanks to the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources and the staff at the Walnut Creek Wetland Park for sponsoring this event.

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Pre-Show Talk
APR 12 at 6:30pm
Talley Student Union, Rm 3222

Small Island Big Song is a music, film and performing arts project uniting the islands of the Pacific and Indian Ocean through artistic collaboration, a contemporary and relevant musical statement from a region that shares an ancient seafaring heritage and the impact of our changing sea.

Curious about how such an ambitious project came to life? Come meet Small Island Big Song co-founders BaoBao Chen and Tim Cole and learn about their Small Island Big Song journey. Moderated by Liza Wade Green, NC State LIVE’s interim director.

LEARN MORE 

Small Island Big Song
CONCERT
with special guest Charly Lowry
APR 12 at 7:30pm
Stewart Theatre

Small Island Big Song brings together Indigenous artists from across the island nations of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, a region at the frontline of the climate crisis, as sea level rise threatens their homelands. These musicians have come together with filmmakers, oceanographers, scientists, and poets to create a concert experience that Billboard calls, “One coherent jaw dropping piece.”

Don’t miss the finale to NC State LIVE’s Small Island Big Song residency week!

BRING CLOTHING DONATIONS: It’s spring cleaning time! Bring your used clothing to the concert for the Campus Thrift Store a student-led sustainable initiative. 

TICKETS & INFO 

In the News

• The Division of Academic and Student Affairs News provides an overview of the residency and an interview with interim director Liza Wade Green.
• The Technician features our Solar Eclipse Party! 
• The Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center offers reflections on our Interactive Research and Arts Workshop.

It Takes a Village

NC State LIVE is supported in part by grants from the City of Raleigh based on recommendations of the Raleigh Arts Commission, South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.