Bundanon has unveiled its major new exhibition season, The Polyphonic Sea, in the award winning Art Museum, open to the public until 8 October 2023.

The exhibition explores the wealth of languages around us, from speech and writing, gesture, and music, to the flow of the natural environment. Curated by Sophie O’Brien, it showcases recent and new works by twelve leading artists from Aotearoa New Zealand: Antonia Barnett-McIntosh, Andrew Beck, Ruth Buchanan, The Estate of L. Budd, Sione Faletau, Samuel Holloway et al., Sarah Hudson, Sonya Lacey, Nova Paul, Sriwhana Spong, and Shannon Te Ao.

Arising from Ancient Greek, the word polyphony refers to ‘many voices’; specifically, however, it refers to multiple melodies, all simultaneously maintaining their independence. The Polyphonic Sea prioritises sound, music and languages of many kinds (whether written or spoken, read by the eyes or experienced through the body).

Image: Sione Faletau, Fou ki moana / By way of the ocean, 2023. Photo: Zan Wimberley