ABSTRACT
Australia is an ancient land which has been mapped and inscribed for over 50,000 years with indigenous song. Traditionally, land and song are inseparable and together they hold the keys to Australian spirituality. The delicate system of indigenous custodianship of the land is defined and enacted through songs belonging to specific tribal groups and these have been passed down through oral tradition since the dreamtime. Colonization altered this forever through the concept of private ownership of the land. Political and capitalist transactions by the invading government, stole, sold and removed the land from its original owners. The dislocation of the people from the land has desecrated indigenous spirituality and this sadness remains as the silenced primary layer of Australia's acoustic palimpsest. Sound Art, including all forms of sound installation and acoustic art inscribes other kinds of sonic marks on the land. Sound artists work to make intentional sound marks in space.
