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MASS MOVEMENT AUDIO PILGRIMAGE

Latai Taumoepeau

AUDIO EXPERIENCE

Commissioned by
Arts House for Refuge 2021. 

Download Audio Pilgrimage Transcript – WORD Version.

Following the coordinates of saltwater, freshwater and civic water, MASS MOVEMENT is an audio pilgrimage in 10 Vaka (vessels), inviting contemplation and visceral interactions about the humanitarian disaster of displacement.

Experiencing this artwork:

Listen to each vaka on your personal device in a quiet place.
In receiving this journey, be attuned to how your body listens.
Give yourself permission to move your body responding freely and safely.

Duration: 32 minutes

Warnings Vaka 5 contains loud static noises that might be uncomfortable

 

If you would like to do the walk which has inspired this artwork, follow the instructions below:

    • Commence at Altona Beach foreshore and follow the signs of the coastal walking trail to Gem Pier in Williamstown [9.5 km]
    • From here catch the Williamstown Ferry one way to South Bank [1 hour]
    • When you disembark follow Flinders Walk to Enterprise Park [800 m]
    • Cross Flinders Street to William Street, continuing North by foot to Flagstaff Gardens [1.2 km]
    • Alternatively, you may catch the 58 tram to Flagstaff Gardens. [10 mins]

Please note: all distances are estimates.

There is a small fee for catching the Williamstown Ferry.

Supported by – Besen Foundation and Hobsons Bay Creative City. Special thanks to Williamstown Swimming & Life Saving Club. Arts House is a key program of the City of Melbourne, and supported by the Australia Council for the Arts.

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Artistic Statement

“MASS MOVEMENT was led by conversations that occurred across the Refuge program throughout the years, between featured artists and Elders-in-Residence, Parbin-ata Carolyn Briggs and Uncle Larry Walsh, that found itself at a gathering of communities at the threshold of the Pacific Ocean and Birrarung River. MASS MOVEMENT is a walking work that asks us to tread lightly at the edge of Naarm where our beloved and shared Pacific Ocean enters the bay of the Kulin nation connecting to the old Birrarung and Yarra. It is a silent experience that asks us to connect deep questions about displacement. How does one depart their home? Who is at your destination? Who has always been there and how do we attune to the first peoples? How do we love Country? What did we bring with us? What do we have to do when we get there? What needs to happen so we may remain at home?” - Latai Taumoepeau, 2021
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Artistic Credits

Lead Artist - Latai Taumoepeau; Creative Producer/ Dramaturg - Jamie Lewis; Associate Producer - Eliki Reade; Sound Designer/Composer/Editor - Nina Buchanan; Sound Selector/Mixer - Lucreccia Quintanilla; Audio Contributor - Stiff Gins with SistaNative, Audio Contributor - Sisi’uno Helu, Audio Contributor - Tempest Fale’aka Taumoepeau Cultural Consultants - Rev. Dr Jione Havea, Janice Florence, Sisi'uno Helu; Drummers - F7 Vaerua Kaara; Zine Designer - Jacob Tolo Image – by Teresa Tan