Songs and stories light up City Hall

A visual installation, soundscape and performance project in central Geelong is weaving together languages from three continents.

Ngubitj, Samgooan, Water – Songs, Stories and Connection is being projected on City Hall each night from April 8 until Sunday, April 17 and is facilitating a space where the public can learn from the Traditional Owners of the region, the Wadawurrung people; travel across oceans to engage with the Elsipogtog of the Mi’gmag community (Indigenous Canadian people); and engage with questions of our collective pasts and futures.

This project is defined by intersections, and how they provide us with the opportunity to learn from one another and grow together.

Nguibitj is a Wadawurrung word for water, the first language of the land and waters that encompass the area from the Great Dividing Range in the north to the coast in the south, from Werribee River in the east, and along the Great Ocean Road in the west.

Samgooan is a Mi’gmag word for water, the language of the land that spans Nova Scotia, Quebec and the Maritime Provices east of the Saint John River in what is now known as Canada.
Ngubitj, Samgooan, Water – Songs, Stories and Connection is produced by Maverick Arts Management.

Brian J. Francis and Matt Bonner are the project’s lead visual artists.

Clifton Springs artist’s Sarah Carroll’s composition “Water Bearer” is a key part of the installation, and is performed by Corrina Eccles, Hubert Francis, The Tides of Welcome Choir, and their director Wayne Jury, with accompaniment by Vicki Hallett, Fenn Wilson, George Carroll Wilson and Shannon Bourne.

Part of the City of Greater Geelong Surround Sounds Geelong & Bellarine Music Festival, Ngubitj, Samgooan, Water – Songs, Stories and Connection is supported by the state government through Creative Victoria.

For more information, head to Maverick Arts Management’s website.