If you're hanging out at Barangaroo Reserve in November you might wonder what's inside the curious big white box on the hill. Called Blak Box, it's a pavilion for art and sound by the boundary-pushing Urban Theatre Projects, telling the stories of the Indigenous people who've lived in the area for tens of thousands of years. Audiences of up to 30 at a time can step inside the dramatic but minimally lit pavilion and listen to a 45-minute audio track featuring spoken word, natural sounds and music, played in state-of-the-art surround sound.
This is the second of three years that Blak Box – designed by Kevin O’Brien, a leading architect of Kaurereg and Meriam descent – will be installed at Barangaroo.
This year's program is curated by Radio National host and Indigenous visual arts commentator Daniel Browning. Called 'Momentum', it considers the representation of First Nations people in popular culture, using David Bowie's landmark 1983 music video 'Let's Dance' as it starting point. It draws together work from a stellar group of Indigenous artists and writers, including Eric Avery, Troy Russell, Ursula Yovich, Wesley Enoch, Larissa Behrendt, Vernon Ah Kee and Evelyn Araluen.