Delhiites savour Australia’s aboriginal art

The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) is exhibiting its immersive multimedia installation, ‘Walking Through a Songline’ for Delhi residents. 

The exhibition is based on the National Museum of Australia’s 2017 endeavour, ‘Songlines: Tracking The Seven Sisters’.  

In ‘Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters’, more than 100 artists hailing from Australia’s aboriginal communities took the audience on an immersive journey of indigenous art, voices, innovative multimedia and other displays. 

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Delhi residents with the help of KNMA were introduced to indigenous art and tales about nature, constellations and poems. 

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A songline, or dreaming tracks, is a pathway of knowledge that traverses the Australian landmass and forms its foundational stories. 

Songlines map the routes and activities of tribal ancestors and can span both the entire continent or can be localised, featuring only a few sites.    

Experiencing the landscape

The exhibition consists of multiple sections catering to both aural and visual senses and is proving to be a big hit. People line up in queues and await their turn as visitors go through a journey of stars, nature and its many inhabitants. 

Audience members immerse themselves in the Australian landscape as a projection of a giant snake, known as ‘The Pursuer’ in folk tales, slithers across the room. 

The story begins in the western desert as a group of sisters are being chased by a sorcerer. The sorcerer, a shapeshifter, uses many disguises to deceive the sisters. The women, however, trick the sorcerer and create songlines as they run and fly. 

Mansi, an undergraduate student, says that she got to know about the exhibition from a friend. “I am mesmerised by this exhibition and this is a great source of information on tribal art and lifestyles.” 

Sanya, another undergraduate student, states that she has visited the exhibition more than seven times. 

“I just can’t get enough of the immersive visuals, to sit on the floor and experience folktales in such a unique manner,” she adds.