Join us as we explore the languages of Australia’s first peoples, against the backdrop of the exhibition, Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra.

Journey with our speakers, Sarah Burr, Paul Collis, Lizzie Ellis and Nardi Simpson, as they introduce and define favourite words in language, then discuss why these word are precious and defy translation into English.

Bir’yun, for example, is a Yolgnu word which denotes qualities of sparkle, glitter and shine. It is sometimes used by artists nearing the completion of a bark painting, when suddenly the energy of the ancestors comes alive on the bark – and it becomes bir’yun.

Words can carry so much more than a single meaning. They can carry knowledge, story, culture and a way of being with the world.

Presented in partnership with the National Museum of Australia.

Bookings via the museum site.

Image: Montage photographs by Sarah Kenderdine, Peter Morse and Paul Bourke. Seven Sisters rock art with permission of Walinynga (Cave Hill) custodians.