DIVINING MELBOURNE
A triptych of lost water sites
Performed with Environmental Performance Authority for 'M47', supported by City of Melbourne, Nov-Dec 2016
Concept/direction/performance by Gretel Taylor, with Peter Fraser, Yoka Jones, Helen Smith & Bronwen Kamasz, with special guest Boonwurrung elder N'arweet Carolyn Briggs
Sound by Merin Trebilcock
1. Submerged
Site: Elizabeth Street (Williams Creek forced underground in 1840s, still posing flood risk)
Through embodied water qualities, sound, and quirky cartographic responses, this travelling performance reminded audiences of the landscape beneath, before and through the contemporary metropolis.
2. Blasted Away
Site: Queens Bridge (once a waterfall across the Birrarung, which served as low-tide crossing for the Kulin nation and boundary between salt and fresh water)
This performance installation referenced a feature of the pre-contact ecology, which was forcibly removed in the 1890s.
3. Meander
Site: Royal Botanic Gardens (a meander of the Birrarung prior to the dramatic realignment of the river’s course)
A guided walk upstream along the Yarra’s original meander, interspersed by performance to activate your mnemonic imaginary.
Performed with Environmental Performance Authority for 'M47', supported by City of Melbourne, Nov-Dec 2016
Concept/direction/performance by Gretel Taylor, with Peter Fraser, Yoka Jones, Helen Smith & Bronwen Kamasz, with special guest Boonwurrung elder N'arweet Carolyn Briggs
Sound by Merin Trebilcock
1. Submerged
Site: Elizabeth Street (Williams Creek forced underground in 1840s, still posing flood risk)
Through embodied water qualities, sound, and quirky cartographic responses, this travelling performance reminded audiences of the landscape beneath, before and through the contemporary metropolis.
2. Blasted Away
Site: Queens Bridge (once a waterfall across the Birrarung, which served as low-tide crossing for the Kulin nation and boundary between salt and fresh water)
This performance installation referenced a feature of the pre-contact ecology, which was forcibly removed in the 1890s.
3. Meander
Site: Royal Botanic Gardens (a meander of the Birrarung prior to the dramatic realignment of the river’s course)
A guided walk upstream along the Yarra’s original meander, interspersed by performance to activate your mnemonic imaginary.