The company that brought Van Gogh Alive to the capital now returns with a world first – Connection: Songlines from Australia’s First Peoples in a spectacular immersive experience at the National Museum of Australia.

Connection is a breathtaking exploration of the rich culture of our Indigenous Australians, the experience stimulating your senses of sight, sound, and smell to create a feeling of belonging. For roughly 35 minutes, visitors are transported to the red desert sands of land country, the fishing waters of water country, or caught in the storms of sky country.

The original artworks by some of Australia’s foremost Indigenous artists, including Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Albert Namatjira, and Lin Onus, fill the room with colour and light while powerful indigenous voices like Gurrumul, Archie Roach and Yothu Yindi resonate through the space. Indigenous faces and bodies move through the screens as they welcome the audience to their country.

While the exhibition hall brims with rich colour and sound, the smaller touches create the atmosphere. Scents of the Australian outback, such as lemon myrtle and wattle seed, waft in the air. Short sharp flashes of light take you to the lightning events in sky country. Videos of ants returning to their colonies on land country. The creativity, thought, and hard work that went into creating this experience is evident in every moment.

One of the artists whose work is featured in the experience is Gurindji woman, Sarrita King, from Sky country in the Top End.

King’s work includes paintings from her lightning series inspired by the storms that fill the sky during the Northern Territory’s wet season.

“They put it so well with the sound;, it’s not just the imagery. It’s that feeling of that big energy I grew up with. It actually brings you to my balcony as a small child with the whole sky lighting up and just feeling alive.”

King has always been inspired by the weather events of the Top End; painting them reinforces her connection to country, particularly to her father who always encouraged her to be honest in what she was feeling when painting.

“It’s funny because people don’t come to the Territory in the wet because it’s when cyclones come through. If I was away from Darwin, I would need to be home at that time of year because I just lived and breathed on that energy.”

Connection to family and ancestors plays an important role in both the exhibition and King’s works. A number of paintings from her ancestor series are also featured. The series began as a connection back to people after the passing of her father and grew from there to works that reflect her ancestors watching over the land.

“For me, it’s everything I grew up loving, and now to see them in this format I think that people will feel that energy and they will connect with that depth of ancestors when they’re immersed in this experience.”

King spoke of how she was excited to bring her own children to the experience, so they could feel the deep connection to “who we are, who we were and who we’ll never forget”.

Aboriginal arts specialist Adam Knight is one of the main curators of the exhibition and, like all those involved, his passion for the project shone through when talking about what it means to see all of the elements come together.

“The opportunity, I believe to fulfill a promise to the artists I used to deal with when I was young, some of the people who gave me everything, this is a way to honour them,” he said.

Knight is committed to seeing the experience continue to grow and evolve, eager to include more Indigenous artists. Although he understands why some of the artists he approached were reluctant to have their art displayed in a digital format, he’s hoping they might change their minds after seeing the experience.

While silence can be beautiful, Connection needs to be shown in a multi-sensory medium that stimulates the body as whole. Knight knew it was crucial to include First Nation voices, especially through song.

“The music is a really big part of the show, it creates sense of being in community. That’s how they often paint, I’ll go into a community and see the ladies sitting around painting and they’ll all be singing the song related to their painting. It’s one of the best things you’ll ever see in your life.”

First stop, Canberra; Knight is hoping the exhibition will tour the country and the world. The NMA has committed to dedicating all earnings from the experience to furthering its Indigenous programs.

Experience Connection at the National Museum of Australia until 9 October. Costs apply; nma.gov.au

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