
In this clip from Lowering the Tone, a documentary produced to celebrate Robyn Archer’s first 45 years of artistry, she reflects on the feminist themes that dominated the early part of her career. She emphasises her belief in passing the torch to future generations of female artists, while granting herself the creative freedom to explore other themes. It’s a complex and touching sentiment: seeing her both pleased at a job well done, and confident that feminism needs to be taken up by new hands to continue moving forward.
The interview is accompanied by an excerpt from The Pack of Women, in which Archer makes an appearance to play the famous ‘Menstruation Blues’. The glee in her performance is utterly infectious, and the filmmakers’ choice to pair it with the interview makes perfect sense: the song makes clear Archer’s role in inspiring a future generation of feminists.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.