Shared Skies Exhibition

Shared Sky stems from the SKAO’s  vision to bring together under one sky South African and Aboriginal Australian artists in a collaborative exhibition celebrating humanity’s ancient cultural wisdom.  This vision embodies the spirit of the international science and engineering collaboration on that is the SKA project itself, bringing together many nations around two sites in Australia and South Africa to study the same sky.    

It reflects the richness of the artist’s’ ancestors’ understanding of the world developed across countless generations observing the movements of the night sky.   Shared Sky explores how this sophisticated understanding of celestial mechanics resonates in the work of living artists that are sharing their insights with scientists working to unlock the secrets of the Universe. 

The original artworks have been touring the globe since 2014. The new exhibition blends visual art, poetry, video and soundscapes to build upon the original Shared Sky concept. The pieces have been created by artists in South Africa’s Northern Cape, where the SKA-Mid telescope is under construction, and by artists from the Wajarri Yamaji community, Traditional Owners and native title holders of Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, where the SKA Low telescope is being built in Western Australia.    

Shared Sky will be launched on 5 August 2024 in the Clivia Conservatory in a ceremony that is open to all delegates on a first-come-first-serve basis, subject to the number of people the venue can hold.  The exhibition will remain open to all delegates for the duration of the IAU General Assembly.    

The SKAO recognises and acknowledges the Indigenous people and cultures that have traditionally lived on the lands on which our facilities are located.