The Footscray journey on 64 Ways of Being is an urban play adventure that traverses the flowerlands and modern ruins of Footscray. It brings together environmental and Indigenous history, linguistic and cultural diversity, unique urban spaces, and possible futures.
Every 64 Ways of Being experience, including the Footscray journey, has been developed by a team of researchers, developers, and creatives, led by Dr Troy Innocent at RMIT University. one step at a time like this provided the audio and sound design, audience experience creation and text and Millipede developed the game and designed the mobile app and user experience.
The audio landscape of the Footscray journey is a collaboration between many musicians and storytellers, including N’arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs AM, Uncle Larry Walsh, Corin Ileto, Ajak Kwai, Peter Knight, Jess Locke, and Marita Dyson and Stuart Flanagan of The Orbweavers.
N’arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs AM is a Boon Wurrung senior elder and the chairperson and founder of the Boon Wurrung Foundation. She is a Senior Indigenous Research Fellow at Monash University and has been involved in developing opportunities for Indigenous youth and Boon Wurrung Culture for more than 50 years. N’arweet was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019 for her significant service to the Indigenous community and she continues her lifelong work of documenting the history of her ancestors. Speaking at an MTalks event in 2023, N’arweet explained that the 64 Ways of Being means, ‘we’re putting ourselves back into Country.’ Her voice guides our attention to landmarks and features, telling stories about Indigenous language and places.
Throughout the Footscray journey, we also hear from Uncle Larry Walsh who is a Taungurung man, senior Elder and Aboriginal cultural leader and storyteller. His focus is on the oral tradition and the story as an important expression and element of Aboriginal culture.
The rich overlapping audio-scape also features music and sounds from many artists. One of those is Corin Ileto. She is a Melbourne-based producer and composer who explores her interest in sound design and spatiality in her compositions. We hear Corin’s dynamic sound while walking along Nicholson Street.
Ajak Kwaj also lends her exquisite vocals to the Footscray journey. A renowned songwoman of contemporary South Sudanese music, Ajak Kwai has engaged with some of Melbourne’s finest producers and musicians. Ajak’s broadly inspired artistic achievements include a successful collaboration with ARIA award-winner Sarah Blasko, becoming ambassador of the Melbourne International Arts Festival and recording with many industry stalwarts including Missy Higgins.
Peter Knight is a composer, trumpeter, sound artist and curator who describes himself as perpetually curious. His practice exists in the spaces between categories, between genres, and between cultures. Peter is a significant international force in contemporary music and has released 17 albums with various labels including his latest solo album in 2022, called Shadow Phase.
Jess Locke is a Melbourne-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Locke has been writing songs for as long as she has playing music and became fascinated with the process of recording them using old microphones, tape recorders and whatever was lying around. She has a hands on, experimental approach to making music that remains, more than a decade after writing her first songs.
Marita Dyson and Stuart Flanagan of The Orbweavers have looked at the way the waterways have changed over time, moving from industrial to recreational pursuits, and how the lives of the people who resided and worked along their banks in the 19th and 20th centuries also changed. Their music appears at a particular moment as players encounter a memory of the Blue Lake.
Download the 64 Ways of Being app from the App Store or Google Play and experience the Footscray journey for yourself today.
For a full list of credits, see this page.