Stu Buchanan talks to Tahlia Palmer, an interdisciplinary artist of Yuwaalaraay descent, about her audio project Amby Downs – named after the station in Queensland where her ancestors worked in servitude to settlers. Her work as Amby Downs is created using field recordings and video footage recorded in the landscapes that she interacts with.
All of Amby Downs’ recordings are made with a decolonial intention, and engage with deep listening and deep historical thought to explore that which lies beyond the settler-colonial surface. Her latest album “Cylical” continues the connections first explored in her debut “Kinjarling Studies”, channelling ‘place’ through ambient soundscapes, radio recordings, improvised guitar and manipulated vocals.
Featuring:
- tornderrup kep (time-lapse with boyu)
- terraformed land
- violent cops attacking protester
- yuwarra-y / dhinagarralawaa (stages of grieving)
- coogal moort wattern (a burial)
Published on 8 June 2020.
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Image: Tahlia Palmer, “Colonial Candy Store” in Blackwood, Vic. T-shirt by @shared.baya
