Walking through a Songline; a dramatic, pop-up, digital, Indigenous art installation from the National Museum of Australia (NMA) will open at the Manjimup Town Hall (Cnr Rose and Brockman Streets) on Monday 16 September 2024. The art installation uses modern technology to recount ancient knowledge, encouraging visitors to immerse themselves in a space where stories come to life.
Visitors make their way through projections that follow the tracks of the Seven Sisters as they are chased across the Western and Central deserts of Australia by a male pursuer. Their encounters are imprinted in the features of the land and tell of where to find food and water, and how to behave appropriately.
Songlines (Dreaming Tracks), follow the paths of Aboriginal Ancestral beings as they moved across Australia creating the land and its people. Shire President, Donelle Buegge, said “this unique art installation shows Songlines in an artistic and dramatic way and consistent with the Indigenous tradition of visual storytelling.”
Margo Neale, Senior Indigenous Curator, Head of Indigenous Knowledges and advisor to the Director, at the National Museum, said “We need to remind all Australians, that although this story has ancient origins, it has critical contemporary relevance and uses contemporary technology as well as more conventional art forms.”
Walking through a Songline will be on display in Manjimup from 16 September until 1 November 2024.
