I’m hurtling down a hill that doesn’t seem designed for roads. We’re late, still brushing off the remnants of nine-to-five. I call ahead to make sure the site is accessible, my mild panic at odds with the slow descent of the sun. A kangaroo leaps away as I park. A chorus of unbothered birds, prattling cicadas a welcoming party. The impressive drama of Bundanon Art Museum grounds sets in. Here, there is little need for rushing.
It’s my first visit, but the scene looks familiar. Since its public opening in early 2022, anyone with a faint interest in the art of the region will probably recognise images of Bundanon Art Museum’s slick architectural design nestled in the lush land of the Wodi Wodi and Yuin peoples and overlooking the Shoalhaven River. Gifted to the public in 1993 by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd, the Bundanon property is located on 1,000 hectares of bush and parkland. Beyond the exhibitions of its subterranean museum built into the hill, it offers the largest creative residency programme in the country, alongside educational and conservation programmes.
But how does this place sound? How are these sounds interpreted through the perspective of artists from elsewhere? How can their artistic languages be heard in a place that is not their own?
Curated by Sophie O’Brien, Head of Curatorial and Learning at Bundanon Art Museum, The Polyphonic Sea seeks to “explore the wealth of languages around us, from speech and writing, gesture and music, to the ongoing flow of communications from the natural environment.” This ambitious undertaking is distilled by its focus on twelve artists from Aotearoa. Existing artworks from eight are accompanied by new commissions created while in residence by Sione Faletau, Sarah Hudson, Antonia Barnett McIntosh and Sonya Lacey reflecting, “Bundanon’s guiding principles to create a working environment for artists through its onsite residency program, and to support a diversity of art forms.”