Decolonising Narratives Through Sonic Artistry and Weaving Dialogues: A Trans-Indigenous Exploration
Abstract
As a First Nations artist walking and working in collaboration with other Indigenous creatives, in this piece I explore in dialogue with my sister Sara, the reinterpretation of Beethoven's fifth symphony, seeking to address and alter the colonial narratives linked to a Beethoven sculpture accessed via a QR code. The Beethoven sculpture serves as a means for cultural reinterpretation and decolonisation through modification of Beethoven’s Fifth, Movement One. This exploration extends beyond aesthetic expression evolving into a creative, disruptive and potentially generative intervention. This sonic intervention-disruption questions established ideas and encourages a dialogue that surpasses temporal boundaries, offering a new-ancient perspective on Australia's intricate and contested historical narrative, present and future.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Manning, Adam and Motta, Sara
(2026)
"Decolonising Narratives Through Sonic Artistry and Weaving Dialogues: A Trans-Indigenous Exploration,"
The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal:
Vol. 6:
Iss.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol6/iss1/5
Author/Artist Bio
Adam Manning was born on Awabakal/Worimi Country and has Kamilaroi kinship. He is a musician, artist and researcher at the University of Newcastle, NSW. As an original Custodial Descendant of Kamilaroi Barray (Land), and a composer/percussionist and artist/designer, rhythmic expression connects me to Land, People, Culture and Story and articulates the natural frequency (heart beat) of Ngaya Barray (Mother Earth). Given this, my rhythmic expressions are articulated in varying forms. In the main, these varying rhythmic forms/expressions are both old and new, and or cross-disciplinary.