Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters
'Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters' was displayed at The Box from October 2021 to February 2022. Featuring 300 paintings and objects by over 100 different artists, it was an internationally touring exhibition that took visitors on an epic journey across three states, three deserts and 500,000 square kilometres.
'An epic, pioneering show’ - The Times
‘A vivid treat for the eye’ - The Guardian
'A peerless exhibition of Aboriginal art' - Widewalls
'A blockbuster exhibition of Aboriginal art, history, science and belief' - Museum Crush
'Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters' was entirely conceived and curated by a team of First Australians, led by Margo Neale, Senior Indigenous Curator at the National Museum of Australia and custodial elders from across the Central and Western Deserts of Australia.
Central to the exhibition were the Seven Sisters Dreaming Stories – ancient creation sagas of the Australian continent - and the aim to preserve them for future generations.
The immersive exhibition travelled from west to east: from the Western Australian coast to the APY Lands in the east, using contemporary art, performance and song to re-animate traditional stories, photography, multimedia and the world’s highest-resolution seven-metre-wide travelling dome.
'Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters' was part of the UK/Australia Season 2021-22 - a major programme of cultural exchange between the two nations.
Useful resources
- Blog Posts: Read a range of blog posts about the background to the 'Songlines' exhibition and some of the key works of art that were displayed in it
- Videos: Watch a series of short videos about the exhibition and visitor reactions to it
- In Conversation: Watch a recording of an 'In Conversation' event with Margo Neale, Senior Indigenous Curator at the National Museum of Australia and Curator of the 'Songlines' exhibition. The talk took place at the University of Plymouth while the exhibition was on display at The Box and The Levinsky Gallery
- Podcast: Listen to 'Women Curating Culture' which was recorded in late 2021 for the BBC World Service and features 'Songlines' curator, Margo Neale