Cosmic Echoes Exhibition Launches Australian Tour at Museum of Geraldton

Cosmic Echoes Exhibition Launches Australian Tour at Museum of Geraldton

According to the Australian national science agency CSIRO, the exhibition stems from a vision by the SKAO, CSIRO, the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, and the Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal Corporation to celebrate ancient cultural wisdom alongside modern science. Cosmic Echoes originally launched at the International Astronomical Union General Assembly in Cape Town in 2024. Following a year of traveling across Africa and Europe—including stops in Manchester and Luxembourg—the exhibition has returned to Australia.

Bridging Continents Through Art and Astronomy

The exhibition explores how Indigenous artists from Australia and South Africa view the night sky, connecting stories of astronomy, identity, and Country across the southern hemisphere. SKAO director-general Professor Jessica Dempsey described the exhibition as an artistic exploration of science, technology, and astronomy spanning two continents.

Despite the artists residing on different continents, many of the artworks feature similar themes and constellations. A prominent shared element is the Pleiades star cluster, known as Nyarluwarri by the Wajarri people and Khuseti by the San and the Khoekhoe of the Northern Cape, which is widely referred to as the Seven Sisters across multiple cultures.

Participating Wajarri Yamaji artist Carlleen Dingo recalled growing up in Australia’s north-west coastline and learning from her grandmothers how ancestors traveled and hunted by reading the stars. Dingo is one of nine artists the SKAO and CSIRO collaborated with from the Wajarri Yamaji People in Australia. Another local artist, Gail Rose Simpson, traveled to South Africa in 2024 to connect with contributing South African artists.

Connection to Global Radio Astronomy Sites

The exhibition is closely linked to regions hosting massive international radio astronomy projects. In Australia, the exhibition connects to Wajarri country, where the Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, or Murchison radio-astronomy observatory, hosts the SKA-Low telescope. That array features 131,072 two-metre-tall antennas spread across 74 kilometres to map distant galaxies, cosmic magnetic fields, and black holes.

Meanwhile, the SKA Observatory is building a mid-frequency telescope in South Africa’s arid Karoo region known as the SKA-Mid telescope, which comprises 196 dish antennas standing almost 15 metres tall each.

South African artist Junior Oliphant contributed artwork exploring the connection between Khoisan folklore and cosmic knowledge. His piece, titled Children of the San XII “My Ma se Taal”, portrays Dr Katrina Esau, also known as Ouma Katrina, who is the last living N|uu speaker and a traditional language advocate. Oliphant noted that the exhibition serves as a journey through ancestral memory, resistance, and cosmic curiosity.

Exhibition Schedule and Legacy

Cosmic Echoes is the successor to Shared Sky, an original Indigenous art-astronomy exhibition that toured globally over several years and was viewed by tens of thousands of people.

The current exhibition remains on display at the Museum of Geraldton until Sunday, 6 September, before continuing its journey across Australia, according to CSIRO.