Cosmic Echoes: a shared sky indigenous art exhibition

Australian and South African Indigenous artists explore creativity at the intersection of modern science and ancient wisdom. A transformative journey of collaboration between world-renowned artists, local youth, and Elders who have been inspired by the traditional knowledge of ancient cultures and the wonders of modern science.

Cosmic Echoes stems from a vision by the SKA Observatory (SKAO) and its partners, the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) and CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, to bring together under one sky South African and Australian artists in a collaborative exhibition. A celebration of humanity’s ancient cultural wisdom.

This vision embodies the spirit of international science and engineering collaboration that is the SKAO itself, bringing together many nations around two unique and culturally rich sites in Australia and South Africa to study the same sky. This exhibition reflects the richness of the Indigenous understanding of the world; an understanding developed by observing the movements of the night sky since ancient times. Cosmic Echoes explores how this traditional knowledge resonates in the creativity of living artists who are sharing their insights with scientists working to unlock the secrets of the Universe.

About a decade ago, the first SKAO Indigenous art exhibition called Shared Sky was developed by the John Curtin Gallery at Curtin University, in association with SARAO, SKA Australia, and in collaboration with Yamaji Art, Geraldton, Australia and the First People Centre at the Bethesda Art Centre, South Africa. Cosmic Echoes is the successor of this venture, highlighting once more the creativity of the people of the remote regions where the SKAO’s telescopes are being built.

In June 2024, a group of artists worked with local Indigenous youth and Elders in South Africa to prepare for the Cosmic Echoes Exhibition. The workshops in Carnarvon, in the Northern Cape region where the SKA-Mid telescope is being built, produced visual art as well as performance art. Meanwhile in Western Australia, the SKAO and CSIRO commissioned and briefed a group of Aboriginal visual artists from the Wajarri Yamaji People, Traditional Owners and Native Title Holders of the land where the SKA-Low telescope is located.

In addition to featuring mainly established artists, the Cosmic Echoes Exhibition curates the youth work in a creative conversation with their professional counterparts. And in turn the artists from Australia and South Africa are ‘in conversation’ with each other and with the SKAO scientists. Together they achieve an elegant symmetry, echoes of a distant past that speak to a common future.

The Cosmic Echoes: Shared Sky Indigenous Art Exhibition is an SKAO initiative, in collaboration with SARAO, CSIRO and the Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal Corporation. The SKAO recognises and acknowledges the Indigenous peoples and cultures that have traditionally lived on the lands on which their facilities are located. In Australia, the SKAO and CSIRO acknowledge the Wajarri Yamaji as Traditional Owners and Native Title Holders of Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, the site where the SKA-Low telescope is being built

Gallery

Dancers at launch of Cosmic Echoes exhibition in Cape Town — Caption of image:Traditional San dancers performing at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition launch in Cape Town.

Attendee at Cosmic Echoes launch event in Cape Town taking pictures of the artwork. — Caption of image:Attendee at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition in Cape Town taking photos of the artwork.

Attendees at the Cosmic Echoes launch event in Cape Town moving between the artworks — Caption of image:Attendees at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition in Cape Town walking past artworks.

Attendee walking past Cosmic Echo artwork at launch in Cape Town — Caption of image:Attendee at Cosmic Echoes art exhibition in Cape Town walking past artwork.

Exhibition curator, Sylvia Vollenhoven at Cosmic Echoes launch event in Cape Town — Caption of image:Cosmic Echoes Curator, Sylvia Vollenhoven, at launch event in Cape Town.

Caption of image:Attendee at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition in Cape Town sitting in front of artwork created by young people from the Northern Cape, South Africa.

Attendees at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition in Cape Town standing in front of artwork inspired by the SKA-Mid — Caption of image:San dancer speaking to attendee at Cosmic Echoes art exhibition in Cape Town

Caption of image:Attendee at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition in Cape Town speaking to artist, Junior Oliphant.

Caption of image:Wajarri Artist Susan Merry and Wajarri Aboriginal Liaison Officer Jennylyn Hamlett speaking at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition launch in Cape Town.

SKAO Director General Philip Diamond speaking at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition launch in Cape Town. — Caption of image:SKAO Director General Prof. Philip Diamond speaking at the Cosmic Echoes art exhibition launch in Cape Town.

Last modified on 03 October 2024