You don't go nowhere else

BACKGROUND: Lacey's research project weaves the philosophies of a Barkindji elder with the soundscapes of the local Murray river network. Lacey interwove recordings of the immediate landscape with the elder's words to illustrate, through sound, new expressions of the elder's insights. The result is a textual-sonic interface that communicates relationships between land and land-owner. The work was part of 'Interpretive Wonderings: Mapping Culpra Station,' exhibited alongside works by thirty indigenous and non-indigenous participants. CONTRIBUTION: The sound design weaves landscape recordings with personal accounts of landowners to reveal the richness of aboriginal interconnection with land. This adds to Culpra Station's efforts to reveal the importance of such relationships, while revealing new knowledge in the way that such information can be transmitted to a wider audience. The project extends Lacey's research into social relations at the interface of environmental sound and individual perception, and how these relations shape cultural knowledge, social health and well-being. SIGNIFICANCE: The significance of the work is evidenced in its inclusion in the exhibition 'Interpretive Wonderings', which was initiated following an invitation from the Culpra Milli Aboriginal Corporation. Mildura Arts Centre is a major regional Australian gallery. It received funding from Mildura Rural City Council, Mildura Arts Centre, and NSW Local Land Services. It was presented on ABC Radio National, at the Performing Mobilities Symposium (RMIT, 2015) and reported on in newspapers. In 2018, the exhibition received the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture's National Award in the Research, Policy and Communication category. The jury stated that it was an 'important and beautiful body of design research ... it establishes a valuable framework for collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the future, and as such, is an important step on the path to Reconciliation.'