Our ecoWALKS are about discovering the hidden layers of regional landscapes in a way you won’t have previously experienced. Some will be quiet walks, some will encourage you to respond to what you’re experiencing, and some will be about considering what’s in front of you from a new perspective, but all of them will provide you with a deeper connection to the natural world. These are not social walks or talking walks. You will be asked to walk quietly and to consider what you experience. Some walks will employ listening technologies, others will guide you to listen more deeply.
Subscribe for updates on when they’re running. They’re usually associated with our projects, so there’s no set schedule.
SOUNDWALKS
When sharing Kim’s point of view, and her deep listening, I am now more aware of the potential loss occurring in our natural world.
- Jack Randell, Tiger Bay Wetlands, July 2022
Burrima Soundwalk, Macquarie Marshes NSW
Saturday 21 October 2022
1.5 hours
* this is the first soundwalk to have been conducted in the Marshes
As part of the official opening of the Burrima Boardwalk, about 128km from Warren NSW on the Carinda Road, Kim V. Goldsmith will be guiding a soundwalk around the all-access, high-level boardwalk on the property — snaking its way through River Red Gum forest, across channels and lagoons, through Phragmites reedbeds, in a 2km loop next door to the North Marsh. Hear about the Mosses and Marshes project that put this internationally important wetland on the international stage through three years of creative exploration and exhibitions in the UK and Australia; learn about creative ways of listening to the environment and hear the wetland in ways you will have never heard them before as we dip beneath the surface of the Marshes using specialist microphones and headphones. The walk will get underway after morning tea and the formalities on the day, between 10.30am-11am. Please be on site by 10am.
FREE. OPEN TO ALL. RSVP for catering required by 13 October – a map if needed and a list of things to bring on the day will be provided when you RSVP.
This walk is being made possible by the Macquarie Wetlands Association.
Summer on the Wambuul soundwalks in 2024, Wellington, Dubbo, Narromine NSW
Follow @ecopulse.art and @goldsmithsmithsstudio on Facebook and Instagram for details of when and where the summer walks on the Wambuul Macquarie River will happen in 2024. Contact Kim V. Goldsmith for more information
Unherd! Walking the Land / listening with, Whixall Moss, Shropshire UK
Tuesday 1 August 2023
5-6 hours
Andrew Howe (UK) and Kim V. Goldsmith (Aust) guided a walk across the Mosses for about a dozen walkers of various interests, starting and ending at the Whixall Marina car park. The walk followed the Prees Branch of the Llangollen Canal to Whixall Moss — about 3 miles of grassy paths, canal towpaths and road. Participants were invited to bring with them a one-minute, mobile phone video with sound recording of a familiar place for a temporary installation in the landscape. Along the walk, participants got to listen to human and more-than-human sounds through spoken word and microphones, and recorded sensations in writing, mark-making and sculpted paper, combined in a counter-map of the walk shared over coffee at the end.
Wambuul Soundwalk, Dubbo NSW
Sunday 28 August 2022
1.5 hours
The 2022 Wambuul Soundwalk was a Sunday afternoon stroll through Biddybungie Reserve on the western bank of the Wambuul/ Macquarie, introducing participants to a sonic riverside world never heard before. This 1.5-hour walk required nothing but a mobile phone with a QR code reader, earbuds/headphones, and a willingness to listen…actively and deeply. Guided by Dubbo-based field recordist, sound artist, Kim V. Goldsmith, the Wambuul Soundwalk celebrated the riverine environment through listening, questioning, thinking, and wonder at sounds that exist below the surface. This free, community event was funded by the Country Arts Support Program (CASP) with thanks to Create NSW and Orana Arts.
This sound walk is part of the Sonic Territories: Wambuul project.
Tiger Bay Wetlands Soundwalk, Warren NSW
Read the blog post about this walk
Maliyanga ngurra/Macquarie Marshes Soundwalk, NSW
** CANCELLED **
The Macquarie Marshes Sound Walk scheduled for 21 May 2021 was cancelled due to wet weather. This event was part of the MOSSES AND MARSHES public program, funded to 30 June 2022. An alternative event in the Marshes is being organised for October 2023 – see above; 2022 was also flooded out.
What others have had to say
“Thank you so much, very stimulating day.”
- Sarah Goudie, Whixall Moss, August 2023
“You’ve really opened my eyes and of course my ears to what is true nature and what is at risk. Thank you. It’s brilliant.”
- Jennifer Catt, Wingham Brush, March 2023
“I was genuinely moved by the experiences of spending time listening deeply and consciously to the environment around the river.”
- Jess Moore, Wambuul Macquarie River, August 2022
“The sound walk allowed me to reflect on the impact we have on the river in a way I had not considered before.”
- Suzie Foran, Wambuul Macquarie River, August 2022
“The soundwalk experience certainly put me in country, utilising the underrated sense of hearing and hugely contributing to my experience of the place, in ways I hadn’t thought of or felt previously.”
- Jude Fleming, Tiger Bay Wetlands, July 2022