Lou Bennett

Background

About Lou Bennett

Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung, Dr Lou Bennett AM is a former member of the internationally acclaimed trio Tiddas, and during her ten years with the band, Lou wrote a number of the group’s signature songs. Lou’s versatile work within the Arts industry over the past thirty years includes various roles as Performer, Songwriter, Musical and Artistic Director, Composer, Actor, Soundscape Designer and Academic. Lou was a member of the Black Arm Band and was an instrumental force in the company’s transformative journey from being a one-off ‘special project’, into becoming an Indigenous performing Arts company. Lou completed her PhD in October 2015 and her dissertation discusses the importance and relevance of Indigenous language retrieval, reclamation and regeneration through the medium of the Arts to enhance community health and wellbeing. In 2017, Lou was accepted as the McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and was inducted onto the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll. In 2019, Lou accepted the appointment as member (AM) of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the performing arts, particularly to music, and the Indigenous community. Lou received a Westpac Research Fellowship in 2020 continuing her research project ‘Sovereign Language Rematriation Through Song Pedagogy’ in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Melbourne.