River Listening Symposium: Before Bluestone Meets Sandstone
2026, Trocadero ProjectsCuratorial project
'Before Bluestone Meets Sandstone' speaks to the geological deep time of the Western Volcanic Plain, which shapes the land of Melbourne’s west. Flowing through the plain, the Maribyrnong River witnesses life, extraction and industrialisation as the west develops and changes.
The River Listening Symposium is a one day place-based public program that invites us to explore listening as a way to connect with the Maribyrnong River and its unseen histories. Through guided listening, performance, artist talks and conversations shared over food, the symposium will create a gentle, reflective space for knowledge sharing.
We invited three artists to respond to this context and share ways of being with the waterway through embodiment, listening and exchange.
With Aarti Jadu, Nicholas Burridge, and Geoff Robinson.
Curated by Joy Zhou.
Photos by Jemma HarrisonThis event was supported through Maribyrnong City Council’s Love Your West Grants Program.