Wantok Musik

Drawing on the rich musical and distinct cultural voices and stories of our region, the Wantok Musik Foundation, an Australian-based not-for-profit record label and social enterprise, produces, records and promotes music from First Nation Pacific and Australia artists region.

The Wantok Musik Foundation has grown over the past five years to expand our work to include working alongside communities to use arts and music as drivers of social change with an aim to create long lasting positive impact in our region.

The Wantok Foundation aims to generate and foster various cultural exchanges between Australia and our neighbours throughout the Pacific by:

• Recording, releasing and promoting music from First Nation Pacific and Australia,
• Raising the local and international profile of First Nation and world music groups based in our region,
• Provide greater economic opportunity for artists and supportive arts practitioners, such as sound engineers, and long-term career sustainability,
• Address various social challenges with creative, culturally focused approaches lead by community members in collaboration with mentors and experienced arts practitioners,
• Increase Australians’ understanding and appreciation of the diverse cultures of our region,
• Cultivate ‘capacity building’ for music recording within our region,
• Increase the cultural exchange between Australia and countries within our region,
• Ensure a diverse representation of voices from our region who otherwise struggle to be head, in particular women, people living with disability and those with geographical barriers,
• Ensure song writers and cultural holders of knowledge are given 100% ownership of their work.

Sitting at the very heart of the Wantok Musik Foundation is community projects. These are developed in partnership with local custodians and keepers of culture, to continue to document and record the richness of the Pacific and First Nation ways of life through song, ritual and performance, and through this achieve sustainable, positive outcomes for the community.

From participation in community events to technical skill-building, Wantok continues to invigorate, showcase and promote this widely diverse region to the world. And provide economic opportunity, mentorship and lasting impact.