Festival review: The Walking Track
A humble yet transcendental stroll along the banks of Yartapuulti reveals hard truths and powerful performances.
Starting at the Waterside Workers Hall in Port Adelaide, the home of Vitalstatistix, we are armed — or eared — with wireless headphones in order to hear our colloquially comedic and humbly wise ‘tour guide’, Thomas E.S. Kelly, as he leads us along the river that holds a dear place in many South Australians’ hearts.
Karul Projects, the QLD based arts company behind this immersive one-of-a-kind show, was started in 2018 by Thomas, a Minjungbal, Wiradjuri and Ni-Vanuatu, and his partner, Kaurna, Narungga, and Ngarrindjeri artist Taree Sansbury. The company has since earned national and international acclaim with their productions which are as earthed as they are ethereal, transformative, and groundbreaking, and The Walking Track is no exception.
The first piece we were led to was performed by local powerhouse Alexis West, Birra Gubba Wakka Wakka and South Sea Islander performer and writer who reminisced with child-like awe about her connection to her adoptive grandmother and the ‘Bauple Tree’ which bears the Macadamia nut. Accompanied by the soundscape of the rainforest in the shadow of the Port docks, the painful juxtaposition of connection to country and colonial dispossession glows as the potent throughline of this, at times, heart-wrenching production.
This walk through different First Nations performances at different sites is powerfully earnest and eclectic. In its exploration of the duality of connection and dispossession it shines as a site-specific work. As we walk past the new and shiny Harts’ Mill Playground, we are informed by Thomas that it was built on a traditional campsite of the local Kaurna peoples; under colonial rule, they had been forced to move to another part of the river. The signs of colonialism remain all around us and echoes itself in layers, sometimes in particularly obvious ways — in the playground there’s a brand-new council sign that reads ‘No Camping Allowed’.
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The flow of the show and the calm pace of the walk allowed the surrounds to shine in between the different performances. As the journey unfolds, the varying vignettes become more physical and more ethereal. Each one unique, insightful and charged with an electric energy that demands to be resonated with. Many powerful names showcase hard truths with a deft touch in this production, which in itself is quite ethereal as this show and its performers are singular to this Adelaide Festival run. All the more reason to experience it.
Kudos must go to Vitalstatistix for presenting this show on this historic site and for its consistent championing of high quality First Nations art. Considering this show is free, it is a testament to both arts organizations’ care for accessibility. This show is a must see for anyone who appreciates history, culture, art or even just a pleasant stroll.
The Walking Track continues at Vitalstatistix until March 16 as part of Adelaide Festival
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