Gurrumul has today been awarded the 2018 Australian Music Prize (AMP) for the posthumous album, Djarimirri (Child Of The Rainbow).
The album, which also picked up four ARIA Awards last year, was announced as the winner of the AMP at a ceremony in Melbourne today, beating out a stacked shortlist that included artists such as Courtney Barnett, The Presets, Dead Can Dance and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.
Gurrumul's producer and friend Michael Hohnen accepted the award, saying, "The vision never really changed from the start to the finish and that was, like G's first album, trying to get under the skin of mainstream Australia in an emotive way that presented a culture that is from here, but we don't learn about."
He continued, "The mission for this album was to try to present something that was not just an historical archive, but something that people loved and embraced and I think it's achieved that."
AMP judging panel leader, journalist and Hoodoo Gurus frontman Dave Faulkner added, "Every year, the AMP is a testament to the vibrancy and importance of the album as an artform in today’s music landscape.
“As Gurrumul proves, albums are more than just a collection of singles, they are a statement, a message, a story that adds an artist’s voice to our nation’s cultural fabric and this is something that Gurrumul and indeed all of our finalists have achieved."
Previous winners of the AMP include AB Original, The Jezabels and last year's winner, Sampa The Great.
Faulkner also announced today that after 14 years, he will step down as chair of the AMP judging panel to be replaced by AMP founder Scott Murphy.
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