Exhibition to celebrate 50th anniversary of Australia-Vietnam diplomatic relations

"Walking Through A Songline" will be on display at the Vietnamese Women's Museum in Hanoi from April 28 to May 21 as part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Australia-Vietnam diplomatic relations.

The exhibition will open free for audiences. Photo: Australian Embassy Vietnam

Songlines (or Dreaming) are central to the existence of Australia's First Nations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) peoples, mapping the routes of ancestral beings as they traveled across Australia, creating the land and its people. They are a way of preserving knowledge and passing it on to new generations.

The Star Dreaming story of the Seven Sisters is one of the most widely distributed ancient stories amongst Aboriginal Australia. The songline for this story covers more than half the width of the continent, from deep in the Central Desert out to the west coast.

Legend has it that an ancestral Jakamarra man was in love with the seven Napaljarri sisters and chased them. In a final attempt to escape from the Jakamarra, the sisters turned themselves into a fire and ascended to the heavens to become stars. The journey of the Seven Sisters that make up the star cluster known as the Pleiades, in the constellation Taurus.

Sarah Hooper, Australian Consul General, said: "The exhibition is an excellent opportunity to learn about - and celebrate - the cultures of Australia's First Nations people. I'm delighted to bring it to Vietnam as part of our 50th-anniversary celebrations and encourage everyone to see it while it's here in Ho Chi Minh City or when it moves to Hanoi in April."

Previously, "Walking Through A Songline" debuted in Ho Chi Minh City on March 22 and will run through April 16.

The space of the exhibition is titled “Walking Through A Songline”. Photo: Australian Embassy Vietnam

The introduction of the lighting exhibition. Photo: Australian Embassy Vietnam