David Blanasi

David Blanasi ( – disappeared 2001), also known as David Bylanadji, also spelt David Bulanatji, was an Aboriginal Australian player and maker of the didgeridoo, known as master of the "Kunbjorrk" or "Gunborg" style of playing. He is known for popularising the didgeridoo outside Australia, after appearing on television on The Rolf Harris Show in 1967. He subsequently travelled the world playing his instrument with his musical partner, songman Djoli "Jolly Lajwonga" Laiwanga, and was widely recognised for his skills. He was less well-known for his artwork, but he was also a skilled painter, using acrylic paint on canvas. He disappeared from his community of Beswick (now Wugularr) in 2001. He was a co-founder of the White Cockatoo Performing Group, which is still in existence. Darryl Dikarrna Brown, who was apprenticed to Blanasi, is part of the group and has assumed the mantle of master of the Gunborg style.

Early life David Blanasi was born around 1930. also spelt Bulanatji.

He first came to public attention as one of a number of traditional Aboriginal didgeridoo players and songmen recorded in 1961-62 by a US linguistic researcher La Mont West. These recordings were released commercially in 1963 on an LP record Arnhem Land Popular Classics. The album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia in 2020, "for sparking wider interest in the instrument family known as the didgeridoo".

In 1967 he became the first "full-blood" Aboriginal Australian to travel to England since 1792. He travelled to London with Rolf Harris in March 1967, appearing live on The Rolf Harris Show on Saturday 1 April for the first time. He had insisted on taking his weapons on the plane with him. He taught Harris how to play the didgeridoo while on tour with him, which began ongoing professional association. He continued to give didgeridoo-playing demonstrations on Harris's BBC One show. Musical collaborations and tours with Harris followed, as well as Australian and international tours as part of a traditional dance troupe, which variously included his lifelong partner and songman Djoli Laiwanga,

In 1976, another live performance was recorded at 2nd South Pacific Festival of Arts at rotorua, New Zealand, released on LP and cassette, named "Bamyili Corroboree - Songs of Djoli Laiwanga". He performed in the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. In France, he performed at the Festival des Arts Traditionnels, and an LP and CD were released under the title Les Aborigenes - Chants et danses de l'Australie du nord.

In 1992 Blanasi appeared in a film with non-Indigenous didgeridoo player Charlie McMahon, called Didjeridu: with Charlie McMahon.

Blanasi performed as part of the White Cockatoo Performing Group on several tours. In 1999 Blanasi did another US tour, giving workshops. along with his lifelong music partner, songmaster Djoli Laiwanga

Personal life Blanasi lived in south-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia, in a remote Aboriginal settlement variously known as Beswick, also known as Wugularr, and in nearby Bamyili (now known as Barunga). and as a master instrument maker his didgeridoos have become highly collectible.

The Blanasi Collection is a permanent exhibition of culturally significant artworks in the West Arnhem painting style curated by Blanasi, held at Djilpin Arts centre in Wugularr (Beswick) since 2008. The collection was begun in 1996, when a group of senior artists and elders, led by Blanasi (who was also a painter), wanted to showcase the art and culture of their community. There are 12 of Blanasi's artworks, which are all large Acrylic paintings on canvas using intricate cross-hatching that tell the stories of his Mayali clan.

In 2014 the hour-long documentary film Kundirri: The Life and Legacy of David Blanasi was released. It is described thus by the Documentary Australia Foundation: "The people of Beswick share the exceptional story of David Blanasi's life, country and culture. Told through the paintings, songs and stories of the breathtaking 39 piece collection; the extensive archive material of his music and international work; and the stories of old and young remembering his life. Kundirri tells the mystery, tragedy and incredible legacy of David Blanasi that thrives today". The film was co-written by Tom E. Lewis and his wife Fleur Parry, co-directed by Lewis and Julia Morris, and co-produced by Parry and Morris. Funding was raised by the Documentary Australia Foundation, and the film was in post-production as of March 2012, and an official trailer was released on YouTube on 27 June 2013 by Djilpin Arts.

his grandson, Darryl Dikarrna, continues his tradition in the White Cockatoo Performing Group, after being appointed successor by his grandfather.

In film 1992: Didjeridu: With Charlie McMahon. 2014: Kundirri: The Life and Legacy of David Blanasi