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 through the use of provocations.
Subscribe for updates on when they’re running. They’re usually associated with our projects, so there’s no set schedule.
WALKSHOPS
See Australian Walking Artists for information about walkshops and other public events.
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 Wetland, July 2022
Past walks
Easter eco(SOUND)WALK, Wambuul Macquarie River, Dubbo NSW
Monday 1 April 2024
1-1.5 hours
This free, guided soundwalk with artist, Kim V. Goldsmith took place on Easter Monday, along the southern edge of the Wambuul Macquarie River on the outskirts of Dubbo City. It was a short walk along the Tracker Riley Cycleway between Shibble Bridge and the mountain bike trail. About eight people in passing and those who planned to be there had an opportunity to listen to the river with a hydrophone and the rumblings of a giant River Red Gum, as well as learn more about the use of specialist microphones to listen to the natural world.
Comments from participants included describing the River Red Gum sounds as ‘all scrumbly’ (a very young boy) and like ‘a rumbly tummy’.
Wingham Brush Nature Reserve Soundwalk, Wingham NSW
Friday 24 March 2023
1 hour
This walk was an active and reciprocal listening experience and an opportunity to learn about the processes of a sound artist on the eve of a major regional exhibition, taking place as heavy rain and thunderstorms hung over the nature reserve. A small group were guided through the sub-tropical rainforest listening to layers of sound and watching the grey-headed flying foxes leave their roosts by the river at dusk. The walk ended with a show and tell of the audio equipment by torchlight in the car park.
This walk was part of the Regional Futures: Box of Possibilities exhibition, 23 March – 13 May 2023 at the Manning Regional Art Gallery, Taree.
Burrima Soundwalk, Macquarie Marshes NSW
Saturday 21 October 2023
1 hours
* This is the first soundwalk to have been conducted in the Marshes after previous events were flooded out in 2021-22
The Burrima Soundwalk was part of the official opening of the Burrima Boardwalk, about 128km from Warren NSW on the Carinda Road, guided by Kim V. Goldsmith 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. Kim talked 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; about creative ways of listening to the environment and hearing the wetland in ways never heard before experienced. Participants used specialist microphones and headphones to listen to life in a lagoon and the heartbeat of an ancient Eucalyptus coolabah tree. The walk was cut short by the extreme heat on the day – originally planned to be about 1.5 hours.
This walk was made possible by the Macquarie Wetlands Association.
Participants of the Burrima Soundwalk
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.
Participants of the Unherd! Walking the Land / listening with walk
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
What participants 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 Wetland, July 2022