AN ANCIENT creation saga featuring a dramatic chase across the Australian deserts is at the heart of the groundbreaking exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.
A world first in scale and complexity, the exhibition showcases sections of five Indigenous Western and Central Desert songlines, utilising some 100 paintings and photographs, objects, song, dance and multimedia to narrate the story of the Seven Sisters as they traverse the continent from west to east, through three states, three deserts and across some 500,000 sq km.
It features the world’s highest resolution six-metre-wide travelling DomeLab under which visitors will be immersed in images of Seven Sisters rock art from the remote Cave Hill site in South Australia, along with animated art works, the transit of the Orion constellation and the Pleiades star cluster.
Standing beneath the dome, visitors will be transported to Seven Sisters sites. And by following the trail of stunning art and installations, you will effectively “walk” the songlines, which are both complex spiritual pathways and vehicles for naming and locating water holes and food, critical for survival.
The project was initiated by Indigenous elders who set out to preserve the stories for future generations and promote understanding of songlines among all Australians.
It runs until February 25.
- 1800-026-132, www.nma.gov.au