Lamine Sonko is a guewel descendant of the Sing Sing clan and Korings of Kaabu, and a member of the Serer, Wolof and Mandinko cultural communities of Senegal. As a guewel his role is to be a keeper and communicator of history, customs, rituals and sacred knowledge through multi artforms and his artistic practice and research is informed by a lifetime of learning embodied cultural knowledge within his community. As artistic director of 13.12, Lamine’s interdisciplinary focus brings together artists, cultural elders, communities and academics to explore ancient African knowledge systems and ways of knowing. Through his creative work he re-imagines the traditional African and contemporary synthesis in the arts, offering new perspectives on how we perceive and understand the world around us.

Olive Moynihan is a creative producer and filmmaker working across interdisciplinary arts collaborations and cultural entrepreneurship. Her experience spans film, theatre and music where she nurtures sustainable and thoughtful creative research and artistic innovation. Through her work, she invites a deeper exploration of how knowledge is shaped and conveyed through the arts, illuminating the transformative dimensions of traditional knowledge systems to encourage a deeper understanding, inspire reflection and dialogue.

Seven years ago, we embarked on a journey to explore an ancient African cosmovision, illuminating the transformative dimensions of this traditional knowledge system. Through numerous journeys between Australia and Senegal, we have immersed ourselves in practice-based research, forming deep connections with cultural elders and communities to embody the essence of these knowledge systems. This research has given rise to a series of multi-artform works, including the short film DEUP and new theatre piece Guewel. These works serve as ‘sites of knowledge’, where the threads of tradition and contemporary expression intertwine, demonstrating the possibilities that arise when we challenge our ways of knowing and doing, in the pursuit of new knowledge and artistic expression.

Director / Composer: Lamine Sonko
Producer / Director of Photography / Editor: Olive Moynihan
Cultural Elders: Oumy Sene, Bouly Sonko, Medoune Khouli Fall, Doudou Rose Thioune
Featuring Artists: Ady Thioune, Assy M’baye, Matar M’baye, Abdoulaye Sonko, Thialan Sene, Abdoulaye Tamba, Ibrahima Thiakaba, Mbacke Thioune