The precinct’s underground pedestrian link tunnel, Muru Giligu - meaning “Path of Light” in Sydney language – provides a space for captivating and immersive light and sound experiences below ground.
The name Muru Giligu evokes thoughts around Sky Country, navigation and star maps. The Gadigal read the movement of stars to know when ceremonies should take place, evoking their deep knowledge of Sky Country to navigate Ground Country. Muru Giligu speaks to the deep knowledge of Sky Country and the tradition of passing on knowledge from generation to generation through location activated storytelling.
Acting as an underground passageway for pedestrians passing between 1 Elizabeth and 39 Martin Place, Muru Giligu is currently exhibiting Tina Havelock Stevens’ light and sound piece, Sonic Luminescence. Muru Giligu will also be lit up in different colours at certain times of year, as a part of 1 Elizabeth’s wider acknowledgement of nominated days of significance.
Sonic Luminescence in Muru Giligu
A tapestry of sound and light, Sonic Luminescence is an immersive experience where the site’s history intertwines with the present. Located in the underground pedestrian tunnel, Muru Giligu which means, ‘path of light’, is an ever-evolving sound and light composition using an algorithm that results in unique outcomes, so that people’s experience of the work will never be the same. Pedestrians can sit or walk, manipulating the sound according to where they choose to be. The experience of those within the walls of Muru Giligu is the work’s central principle.
Drawn from site-specific field recordings made in Martin Place, on the Metro train platforms and amongst functioning steam trains elsewhere, the composition allows different scenes to unfold across different times and days. You will hear human-made sounds but also the land’s cultural heritage such as nature’s pre-colonial symphony of magpies, butcher birds, lyre birds and owls.
First Nations musicians improvise on violin and vocalise the land and sky country above, cementing their relationship to the area. Violinist Eric Avery (a Ngiyampaa, Yuin, Bandjalang and Gumbangirr artist) imagined trains moving through the landscape when he played his violin, and Yuwaalaraay performer Nardi Simpson was vocalising land and sky country.
Woven into the soundscape are the sounds of transport from the past, drumming from the artist, soothing harp music to induce a more relaxed transit through the space, and archival audio relating to Martin Place. An undulating journey is created from one end of the pedestrian tunnel to the other, offering an atmosphere of possibility and wonder.
Lead Artist/Concept: Tina Havelock Stevens
Chief Collaborator/Sound designer: Bob Scott
Lighting Creative: Fausto Brusamolino
Co-Project Manager: Isabel Perez
Additional Recordist: Reinert Wasserman
Vocalising: Nardi Simpson
Violin: Eric Avery
Harp: Emily Granger
Thank you to Picnic Train, The National Film and Sound Archive, Marc Anderson from Wild Ambience, and Bruce Clarke OAM (recording courtesy of Dallas Clarke).
Tina Havelock Stevens explores in her practice the ambiguities of human nature through moving and still image, improvisational performance, sound, mixed media and text. Her experience in post punk bands and as an observational documentary film maker collide and mix to create intimate, immersive art experiences that forge connections between personal histories and public, often historic locations. Her sound works evoke atmospheric layers of social, cultural and environmental stories and spaces. Havelock Stevens’ work is in the collections of Artbank, regional galleries across Australia, and the Macquarie Group Collection. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including a major commission for the MCA’s C3 West program (2019), and in 2022 was commissioned by the NSW government to create a site-specific sound work for the new Sydney Football Stadium.
Muru Giligu’s lighting and sound infrastructure combines a series of integrated LED lights and speakers with intelligent control software to transform the structure into a unique and immersive space.
Lighting Designer: Electrolight
Light & Audio Supply / Controls: Xenian
Light & Audio Programming: iion / David Hayes
Audio System Design: ARUP
Architect: Grimshaw Architects
