Proximities

2006 Commonwealth Games landmark commission for William Barak Bridge, Melbourne. Commissioned by State Government of Victoria. 

Created by Sonia Leber and David Chesworth in collaboration with Simeon Nelson.


How do we embrace cultural difference? In shared spaces and border cultures, proximities test our capacity for ethical behaviour.

Sonia Leber and David Chesworth's soundscape is conceived as a sonic corridor of human voices. The project is built up around recordings made by the artists of people from the 53 Commonwealth nations who are now living in Australia.

Each individual voice contributes a distinctive singing style, with specific melodic and rhythmic ornamentation shaped over centuries of cultural tradition. The artwork can be seen as an imagined crowd through which actual crowds of pedestrians pass for a time between destinations.

Simeon Nelson's visual element is a calligraphic motif travelling the length of the soundscape. Its arcs and tendrils frame the mingling voices, unrolling in syncopation with the dynamic variations within the soundscape. The changing inflection and gesture of line is derived from the ornamental systems of many cultures around the world.

On William Barak Bridge, Proximities can be seen as an imagined crowd though which actual crowds of visitors along the bridge pass from time to time, during the Commonwealth Games and beyond.

Sources in the Central Zone

WURUNDJERI / Welcome to country
The artwork pivots around the voices of the local Wurundjeri people, the traditional owners the land around the city of Melbourne.
Voices: Joy Wandin Murphy, Kim Wandin, Lewis Wandin-Bursill, Dion Bender.
Clapsticks: Ron Murray, Dion Bender

Sources along the Bridge

As you walk along the bridge, the shifting soundscape constantly changes over time as new voices arrive, migrate, entangle and disentangle. Sources include:

AFRICA

BOTSWANA / Song for grinding corn, Mmapelo Malatji

CAMEROON / Celebration call for arrival of baby, Nathalie Mbala

THE GAMBIA / Story of establishment of the Manding Empire, Jali Buba Kuyateh

GHANA / Fisherman's song, Kuukua

KENYA / Rousing song to encourage dancing, Prisca Cradick

LESOTHO / Wedding song comparing bride to a shining star, Rosalea Simpson

MALAWI / Welcome song, David Marama

MAURITIUS / Lament for a child lost at sea, Tessa Naidu

MOZAMBIQUE / Repeating chant to ancestors, Carlos X Panguana

NAMIBIA / Song to celebrate independence, Esther Mbonge Cross

NIGERIA / Children's play song, Nze Nkem Anele

SEYCHELLES / Anticipating the thrill of the Moutya dance, Cecile Lablache

SIERRA LEONE / Working song describing aches and pains, Francess Kalon

SOUTH AFRICA / Celebrating the joy of coming together, Valanga Khoza

SWAZILAND / Welcoming the mother back from work, Zweli Tlhabane

TANZANIA / Song announcing a chicken has been stolen, Habib Chanzi

UGANDA / A bird distracts the women collecting water, Theresa Sengaaga Ssali

ZAMBIA / Song berating women who use skin lightening cream, Larry Maluma

ASIA

BANGLADESH / Song about sacrifices that mothers make, Abdullah Al-Mamoon

BRUNEI / Song of the sprawling water village, Dayang Hashimah Hamid

INDIA / Karnatic singing, Narmatha Ravichandhira / Naga chant, Visier Sanyü

MALAYSIA / Song about a kite in the shape of a moon, Rohani Hashim

MALDIVES / Protecting the crystal clear waters and palm trees, Ahmed Nashid

PAKISTAN / Song to the new generation, Tahir Hashmi

SINGAPORE / Pantun verse about gift giving, Khairi Razaai

SRI LANKA / Song in praise of Lord Krishna, Narmatha Ravichandhira


CARIBBEAN & AMERICAS

BAHAMAS / The rhythms of the Goombay fire dance, Nakia Bolt

BARBADOS / Children's rhyme about a slave, George Gill

BELIZE / Song about a brown-skinned girl, Nadine Vernon, Mariel O'Ferrall

CANADA / Ballad of the fishing outports, Deborah Merrifield

GRENADA / Song of the fish vendor, Suzanne Berkeley

GUYANA / Gold seekers' river song, Lloyd Watson-Jones

JAMAICA / Preparing the Cerasee herb cure-all, Jigzie Campbell

ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES / Song for funeral wake, Rueben Campbell

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO / Longing to go home, Courtney Leiba


EUROPE

CYPRUS / Lament of the solitary shepherd, Achillies Yiangoulli

ENGLAND / The hand loom weaver and the factory maid, Danny Spooner

MALTA / Ghanna-style singing, George Aquilina, Don Zammit

NORTHERN IRELAND / Slow air about a field of barley, Mossie Scanlon

SCOTLAND / Song collected from travelling tinkers, John McAuslan

WALES / Little saucepan on the stove, Moelwyn Hugh Jones


OCEANIA

COOK ISLANDS/ Treasuring the eternal beauty of the islands, Guard John

FIJI / Song to hail the commencement of dancing, Silvia Nalewakalou Onken

KIRIBATI / Enjoying the calm, sleepy lagoon, Tetaua Macumber

NAURU / Rhyme to go buy candles during power outage, Cyrene McPhilbin

NEW ZEALAND / Greeting call to the people of the four winds, Margaret Maru

NIUE / Tale of storm capsizing a canoe, Miquel Sietu

PAPUA NEW GUINEA / Mourning song celebrating life, Olive Tau Davis

SAMOA / Song extolling the virtues of the village boys, Grace Vanilau

SOLOMON ISLANDS / Fishing song proclaiming abundance, Phillip Tagini

TONGA / Song of warriors rowing the king's canoe, Inoke Veamatahau

TUVALU / Call for people to come together, Keleta Avene

VANUATU / Dancing song used in sporting matches, John Maho Bule

Acknowledgements
Sonia Leber and David Chesworth gratefully acknowledge the artistic collaboration of Simeon Nelson.

Paintwork fabrication, Urban Art Projects
Sound system design, Resonant Designs 
Audio installer, Prodigious Concepts