As Timor-Leste prepares to mark 21 years of independence, a friendship forged with a small coastal community in southern New South Wales continues to deepen.
When the young nation began the enormous task of rebuilding after a prolonged and painful campaign to claim its sovereignty from Indonesia, it forged a network of grassroots alliances with communities across Australia.
Decades later, the relationship between the Bega Valley and the Barique-Natarbora district in Timor-Leste has blossomed, from an initial focus on practical assistance with infrastructure and education, to a two-way cultural exchange.
David Crowden joined the Bega Valley Advocates for Timor-Leste in 2010 as a cultural coordinator, and worked with celebrated East-Timorese musician and songwriter Ego Lemos to begin a choir exchange between the two countries.
"Singing is such an integral part of their culture. Just the joy and the happiness that comes through," Mr Crowden said.
"And it's a strong part of our culture in the Bega Valley as well."
In 2019, Bega's Belun-Malu choir travelled to Timor-Leste to perform.
With the aim of reciprocating with a tour to Australia, the Koru Lian Timor choir was formed.
The choir's members come from Natabora and Maliana, two remote regions in the south and west of Timor-Leste.
As they prepared for their first Australian tour, the singers have been making a four-hour trip each month to Dili, where they meet to rehearse.
For the choir's conductor Aju Amaral, the invitation to visit Australia is a rare opportunity for the singers to perform internationally.
"It's a great opportunity for us to share our stories with our neighbours like Australia," Mr Amaral said.
Over a week-long tour, the singers performed alongside choirs from the Bega Valley and the Blue Mountains.
The Koru Lian Timor choir's director, Ego Lemos, has recently been appointed as Timor-Leste's special envoy for art, culture and the environment.
He lived through Timor-Leste's brutal fight for independence that resulted in the deaths of a quarter of the population — almost 250,000 people.
"My experience during the Indonesian occupation, 24 years, is very painful. But I feel grateful that I survived," Mr Lemos said.
"Now we're living in a free country, music is bringing people alive again."
The healing power of music is echoed by Walbunja-Yuin woman Michelle Davison. She has been singing with First Nations choir Djinama Yilaga since the choir was founded in 2019.
"It's absolutely powerful — powerful in how spiritually uplifting it has been in my own personal journey in life," Ms Davison said.
The choir, based in Yuin country on the NSW southern coast, has been reviving the traditional languages of the south coast through song.
The group welcomed the Koru Lian Timor choir onto Djiringanj-Yuin country, shared songs and told their own story of how traditional languages and cultural practices had been banned under successive Australian governments.
They shared songs they had crafted in their Dhurga language, and learnt the songs of the Timorese visitors before joining them on stage at the Four Winds concert venue near Bermagui.
"Just learning their language, listening to how they sound, I like to just look and see how much joy other people get out of it," Ms Davison said.
