Walking Through a Songline

Immersive multimedia installation Walking through a Songline opens in Tamworth

A dramatic digital experience based on a component of the National Museum of Australia’s internationally acclaimed exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters will open at Tamworth Regional Gallery on 9 July – 28 August 2022.

Walking through a Songline is a portable pop-up light installation in which visitors can immerse themselves and experience the nexus between ancient knowledge and new technology.

Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters is an Aboriginal-led exhibition developed in 2017 which takes visitors on a journey along the epic Seven Sisters Dreaming tracks, through art, Indigenous voices, innovative multimedia and other immersive displays.

While the original Songlines exhibition tours Europe, including in Germany and France, a pop-up technical iteration is undertaking a national tour of Australia.

Margo Neale, Senior Indigenous Curator, Head of Indigenous Knowledges and advisor to the Director, at the National Museum, said “While this highly acclaimed and much-in-demand exhibition tours internationally we must keep an essential part of it, the beating heart, here in Australia.

“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,” Adj. Professor Neale said.

“If you want to call yourself Australian and share this continent with us, you need to know your story about the creation of this continent and its history beyond 240 years,” Adj. Professor Neale said.

Angela Hernandez, director of Mosster Studio which created both the original digital installation and the new pop-up version, said “Walking through a Songline is a transformative experience that gives visitors the sensation of walking through songlines themselves.”

Bridget Guthrie, Tamworth Regional Council Director Art Gallery and Museums, encouraged residents across north west NSW to visit the exhibition, opening in Tamworth just in time for NAIDOC Week.

“Free at the Tamworth Regional Gallery, this immersive digital exhibition will appeal to the whole family”, she said. “Artwork from local First Nations artist Kaleb Waters will also be on display so participants can explore songlines from the Tamworth region.”

Walking through a Songline will open at Tamworth Regional Gallery on Saturday 9 July 2022.