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Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese MP at the launch of Walking through a Songline in Phnom Penh.
Courtesy Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Walking through a Songline is a pop-up digital experience based on part of the National Museum of Australia’s internationally acclaimed exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters.

Visitors make their way through stunning projections that show a songline in an artistic and striking way. This is an immersive experience at the nexus between ancient knowledge and new technology.

Walking through a Songline is on show at:

  • Manjimup Town Hall, Western Australia, 16 September to 1 November 2024
  • Indian Museum, Kolkata, India, 1 November to 1 December 2024
  • Wanneroo Gallery, Western Australia, 13 November 2024 to 1 February 2025

Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese was joined by His Excellency Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice President of Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, to launch Walking through a Songline in Phnom Penh, as part of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and Cambodia.

A person stands, side to camera, in silhouette before two large screens, at right angles. On the screens are projected a series of dots in pink, white, yellow and teal, forming concentric circles.

Walking through a Songline

Seven Sisters

This groundbreaking show follows in the tracks of the Seven Sisters Tjukurrpa (Dreaming), across the Western and Central deserts of Australia, as they are chased 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 correctly.

All Ancestral journeys create songlines, which can be seen as pathways or corridors of knowledge. The stories they hold form the foundational history of Australia, as told by artists, custodians and traditional owners.

Silhouette of a person standing in front of a large screen showing image of a coiled bronze snake, on a backdrop of various round circles of light.

Walking through a Songline

Walking through a Songline is a portable and easily installed exhibition that is suitable for all ages. It consists of a self-contained projection structure that uses visuals, sounds and interpretative panels that provide insights into First Nations songlines and explore how an entire continent has been mapped for, and by, its people over millennia.

Education and public program resources will also be available.

The exhibition requires few prerequisites from participating venues, other than an appropriate space and minimal audio-visual support.

If you are interested in hosting the exhibition, please email touring@nma.gov.au

Acknowledgements

Walking through a Songline is produced by the National Museum of Australia in partnership with Mosster Studio, with the ongoing support of the traditional Aboriginal custodians and knowledge holders of this story.

The international touring exhibition is presented in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Australian tour is supported by the Australian Government's Visions of Australia program and the Museum's donor community.

Image of National Museum of Australia and Mosster logos.

Walking through a Songline has also been on show at:

  • Salisbury Community Hub, South Australia, 21 June to 30 July 2024
  • Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India, 26 May to 10 July 2024
  • Museum of Solutions, Mumbai, India, 19 April to 9 May 2024
  • Cardinia Cultural Centre, Pakenham, Victoria, 18 January to 31 March 2024
  • Australian Embassy, Washington D.C., United States, 8 January to 1 March 2024
  • Redcliffe Museum, Queensland, 14 October to 26 November 2023
  • Discovery Mall, Bali, Indonesia, 27 October to 12 November 2023
  • Museum Kota Makassar, Indonesia, 14 September to 5 October 2023
  • Cobb+Co Museum, Toowoomba, Queensland, 17 June to 2 October 2023
  • Jakarta History Museum, Indonesia, 6 to 23 July 2023
  • Ciputra World Mall, Surabaya, Indonesia, 1 to 17 August 2023
  • Museum of Tropical Queensland, Townsville, Queensland, 1 April to 4 June 2023
  • The Vietnamese Women’s Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam, 28 April to 21 May 2023
  • The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 16 March to 16 April 2023
  • Jervis Bay Maritime Museum, New South Wales, 4 February to 19 March 2023
  • Factory, Phnom Penh, 13 November to 11 December 2022. Read the media release (PDF 152kb) from the Australian Embassy Cambodia
  • Thailand Creative and Design Centre, Bangkok, 4 October to 6 November 2022
  • Tamworth Regional Gallery, New South Wales, 9 July to 28 August 2022
  • National Art Gallery of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 8 June to 11 September 2022
  • Museum of Sydney, New South Wales, 7 May to 17 July 2022
  • Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, 12 March to 26 June 2022
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