Dryandra Woodland is a unique habitat on Noongar Wiilman boodja, home to endangered species such as the numbat and woylie, and a predator-proof area for boodies, malas and bilbies. This small woodland sits like an island within the vast sea of the western wheatbelt—the largest land clearing event in history.

Listening to Dryandra Woodland is an expansive, video-captioned sound installation, representing accumulated efforts to foster relationships within this place. Over five hours of recordings comprising conversations, music, and field recording, are assembled generatively in a piece situated somewhere between documentary and installation. 

Dyed fabrics hang in the room, imbued with the woodland’s shapes and colours, as these recordings are sounded by four speakers and tactile vibrations.

More information via Audible Edge / Tone List Website 

Listening to Dryandra Woodland was commissioned by Liquid Architecture, and has been supported by Tone List and the Western Australian government through the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries. The artists acknowledge the Wiilman Noongar people as the custodians of Dryandra Woodlands, and would also like to thank the woodland caretakers, John and Lisa. 

Audible Edge is supported by the Western Australian government through the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries, and the City of Perth through its arts grants program. It has been presented with the support and partnership of the Perth Jazz Society, Cool Change Contemporary, Liquid Architecture and Tura New Music.

Katie West is a multi-disciplinary artist who lives on Noongar Ballardong boodja and belongs to the Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara tablelands in Western Australia. The process and notion of naturally dyeing fabric underpin her practice – the rhythm of walking, gathering, bundling, boiling up water and infusing materials with plant matter. The objects, installations and happenings that Katie creates invite attention to the ways we weave our stories, places, histories and futures.

Simon Charles is a composer and performer based in Noongar Ballardong Country (Western Australia). His practice reflects an interest in the instability of compositional structures; as friction between musical notation and perception and interactions with place. He holds a Masters’ degree in performance (saxophone/composition) from the Victorian College of the Arts. He has been the recipient of several prizes and awards, including the Marion Isabel Thomas Prize (VCA), the Zavod Composition Award, and the Rogowski Scholarship for Saxophone (University of Melbourne). 

Josten Myburgh is a musician based on Whadjuk Noongar boodja in Boorloo. He works with techniques from the worlds of electro-acoustic music, radio art, free improvisation, field recording and experimental composition. He is part of local record label Tone List and co-curator of the Audible Edge festival. Notable performances include The Forge (Johannesburg), Inland (Melbourne), Liquid Architecture (Melbourne), KLEX Festival (Kuala Lumpur), Dog Star Orchestra (Los Angeles), Cable#8 Festival (Nantes), The Fremantle Biennale, and Supersense Festival (Melbourne). He is a Schenberg Fellow.