In 2007 Kurruru secured funding from the SA Government’s Social Inclusion Initiative to establish a Boys and Young Men’s program, engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys and young men in cultural and artistic activities building on Kurruru’s successful Boyz Kulcha Moves work of 2004 - 2006. Taking a cultural and artistic approach to providing early intervention and exploring the social issues that surround boys and young men’s interaction with the justice system, Kurruru's program provided tools to enhance participants’ social health, sense of self-esteem and self-worth, cultural identity and connection with their families and community.

Five separate projects were initiated under the auspices of the Boys and Young Men’s Program led Nick Leidig, Boys Program Officer however the intent of the program would be to extended the engagement of boys and young men into all layers of Kurruru’s activity. An advisory committee, the Mens Mentoring team, supported the Boys Program Officer in managing the diverse projects and provided informed, culturally relevant guidance to the program.

Over 18 months the program facilitated the engagement of young men and boys in a range of artistic and cultural activity and learning.

Cultural camps to Innes National Park (Yorke Peninsula, SA), Camp Coorong (Meningie, SA) and Murray Lagoon (Kangaroo Island, SA) were held. At all of these camps the participants worked with Elders and cultural knowledge bearers taking a cultural journey through country learning stories of the land, learning cultural knowledge and building their sense of identity as Aboriginal men. These camps added to participants’ life skills and encouraged them to develop respectful relationships with other men, and strengthen their community awareness and pride in themselves.

The Boys Program included the recording, mastering and production of Kurruru’s second album in the Blak Traks series Blak Traks 08, a 20-track CD showcasing young Nunga talent from across South Australia. Kurruru worked with young people in communities as diversely situated as Ceduna, Port Lincoln, Copley, Victor Harbour, Port Augusta and Murray Bridge, responding to the interest created by Blak Traks 05 and continuing to outreach music and other performing arts workshops to include young Nungas in regional South Australia. In addition, Blak Traks 08 included recordings from Nunga kids in juvenile detention centres and emerging young Nunga independent artists, helping promote their music.

In 2008 Kurruru engaged a creative team to run songwriting workshops and record tracks from young men and boys for the album Blak Traks 08. A total of 1000 copies were produced and distributed to participants, schools and to radio stations across Australia. Kurruru has launched both Blak Traks 08 and the earlier Blak Traks 05 through iTunes.

The Binnanendi project explored the way boys find their way into manhood, responsibility and culture. Binnanendi drew participants through a series of stages exploring photography, digital storytelling, an exhibition and a performance work presented during the Come Out 09 Festival.

Participants created a calendar that presented twelve different images of eighteen young black men engaging in activities that bring meaning to their lives. For one it is their culture, for another it is their family and the support they have around them. Football, film-making, playing the guitar – all of these different activities which transform these young men into individuals – young black men are out there quietly achieving, not in the public spotlight, but in a variety of ways and are proud to be Aboriginal. To highlight this transformation, each of the boys and young men were photographed in a black suit and tie by photographer Shane Reid.
Eight participants from the calendar shoot engaged in a digital storytelling project to explore their experiences of growing up as young Aboriginal males in Adelaide. Working with trainers from Adelaide’s Media Resource Centre participants told very personal and important stories and experiences to a wide array of audiences using their own words to narrate their own experiences. The emotional content and heartfelt stories of the eight young Aboriginal men left a lasting impact on the audiences after each screening.  The digital stories proved to be a vital component of the overall Binnanendi project.

The finale of the Binnanendi project was the Stylin’ Up parade, showcasing the young men involved in Binnanendi as they took to the runway in a choreographed fashion parade incorporating elements of design, fashion, music and images into a deadly no-shame parade.  Born out of the huge enthusiasm for styling up and stepping out that was demonstrated in fashion events at Blak Nite 07, NAIDOC and Reconciliation Week, this live performance event was presented to schools and community during Come Out 09 on 21-22 May at five very special showings. 

The program initiated the formation of a new boys dance workshop. Working with artists experienced in both contemporary and hip-hop dance styles participants created new work. Kurruru was able to use the dance ensemble to draw together and work with a group of very young and emerging Aboriginal dancers who benefited from structured dance workshops.

The Boys and Young Men’s Program was very successful in engaging and developing Aboriginal Boys and Young Men and following on from the success of the two-year trial, Kurruru hopes to continue the success of the program in 2010.