Deep listening at Sydney Harbour

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Past, present and future coexist. If the speed of sound warps our sense of time then we can still hear the crackle of fires lit thousands of years ago on the foreshore of the world’s most magnificent harbour. The presence of the First People is inscribed in the acoustic memory of the place they now call Barangaroo. Contemporary voices share stories of country. Are you listening?
– Daniel Browning, Urban Theatre Projects, BLAK BOX Curator.

Step inside BLAK BOX at Barangaroo Reserve from June 2-24 2018 and embrace the First Peoples’ concept of ‘deep listening’. Based on oral storytelling, silences and the spaces in between, deep listening is a practice to develop respect and community building. The state-of-the-art BLAK BOX surround-sound space has been purposely designed by globally-renowned architect Kevin O’Brien. The harbour-side pavilion will be filled with a powerful suite of newly commissioned sound works carefully curated by Daniel Browning (presenter of Awaye! on ABC RN). The works bring together a moving range of contemporary First Peoples voices to respond to the past, present and future of the Barangaroo site.

The premiere of BLAK BOX offers audiences a vantage point for a wider exploration of the First People’s relationship with their waters through that most compelling and fleeting artefact of human consciousness – sound. The inaugural BLAK BOX program is titled humechochorus (hum echo chorus) and comprises commissioned oral histories of the harbour headland before 1788, informal interviews and spoken word performances. These will sit alongside over 15 separate commissioned sound pieces comprising original music and hydrophone field recordings taken from underwater at the site. Together the works offer a sound stream of consciousness blending stories of the past (echo), the present (hum) and an imagined future (chorus).

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How to get there: Guests must report to the Blak Box Box Office located HERE at the Waranara Terrace on level 1 of Barangaroo Reserve.
You can call the Blak Box Box Office on 0415513991 if you need further instructions from 5pm – 9pm Tuesday to Saturday and 2pm to 6pm Sunday.

Find out more about Urban Theatre Projects