The universal language of music has been creatively applied to the celebration of Harmony Week 2026 (March 16 – 22) by a group of young multilingual people from Aranmore Catholic College – of migrant and refugee backgrounds – who produced a song and music video called Rock Paper Scissors.
Performed in six languages, celebrating friendship, family and culture, Rock Paper Scissors delivers a strong uniting message that we are all more similar than different.
Explaining how the song came to be produced, one of the young singers, Lyna Obang Oman, said, “When all of us first arrived in Australia we didn’t speak the same language and Rock, Paper, Scissors was an easy game everyone could understand.”
“That is why that game is the title of our song. Even though we are all from different countries, we came up with ideas together – it was good teamwork.”
The song and music video were created during a youth arts program run by Same Drum in partnership with the Intensive English Centre at Aranmore Catholic College and Healthway.
It is sung in six languages – Portuguese, Arabic, Anuak, Swahili, Spanish and English.
Six facilitating artists collaborated with the students, including Rita Yousif, a singer who is also a former Aranmore student.
“Throughout the workshops the young people were trying new things and letting each other into their worlds. Their song is about their personal and cultural values and all the things that bring them joy and belonging,” Rita said.
Fifteen-year-old lead female vocalist, Areej Alelayan said, for her, the song was about working together.
“We loved sharing our ideas, cultures and talents with each other. It gave us an opportunity to talk about the things that matter to us. It helped us feel comfortable talking to friends and sharing our ideas with friends and learning new words in English from friends.”
The young musicians worked with a team of high-profile artists to create the music video, including filmmaker Poppy van Oorde-Grainger, musician Paulie P, cinematographer Tim Fitzgerald, dancer Mwaba Mubanga, editor Liam Oz and singer Rita Yousif.
The music video was released to coincide with Harmony Week and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It has been screened at Perth Festival Lotterywest Films before the main feature at Somerville Auditorium from 23 – 29 March. Watch it Here.
Harmony Week recognises Australia’s diversity, bringing together people from all backgrounds and fostering inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
Same Drum’s youth arts program is proudly supported by WA Government and Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund.