Creative Collaborations
Guewel by 13.12
13.12 present Guewel, a ritual journey through an ancient African cosmovision, exploring landscapes of the soul and preparing us for life’s beginnings and endings.
Seven years in the making, Guewel is a multi-art form work from director Lamine Sonko, who has journeyed to the remote and sacred places of Senegal to understand how ancient cosmology and metaphysical knowledge shape our ways of being in the world.
In a landmark collaboration with the National Theatre of Senegal, Guewel channels deep ancestral power through primordial sound worlds and sacred rhythmic dance, offering a reflection on our interconnected, collective human experience.
Blending traditional and contemporary music, dance, projection animation and filmed cultural landscapes, Guewel brings together ancient and new artforms in a vibrant meeting of worlds, bridging cultural and temporal divides.
Sona Productions are Associate Producers and are taking bookings for the 2027 nationwide tour.
Hamoris Lian Timor
Hamoris Lian Timor (Reviving the Sound of Timor) showcases the songs, music, dances, and stories of Timor Leste. From the soaring mountains of Maubisse and Letefoho to Balibo, Dare, and the coastal city of Dili, the initiative captures the rich cultural tapestry of Timor Leste.
Our mission is to preserve ancient traditions, share the poignant stories of women who endured the long struggle for independence, and celebrate the uplifting melodies of songs about life, love, and challenges, the unique beauty of Timor's music and culture. This project is led by individuals with deep familial and cultural ties to Timor Leste and is bolstered by the Wantok Musik Foundation’s strong and enduring connections with the artistic community there. It builds upon a collaboration called Maubere Timor, which focused on recording, releasing, and performing significant historical resistance songs by Timorese veterans.
In August 2025, selected musicians from the Hamoris Lian project toured Australia with live performances in Victoria and Darwin, marking a first international experience for many. Artists also performed a concert in Dili, Timor-Leste in October 2025.
This endeavour is supported by funding from Office for the Arts and Creative Victoria.
We Have Come to Testify
This project encompasses a music/documentary recording and an illustrated book which tells the stories from the survivors and witnesses of the 1998 Byak Massacre in West Papua.
In July 1998, when unarmed West Papuans protested for the independence of their nations, they were tortured and killed by Indonesian security forces. Many more were detained and continued to be tortured in custody after the event.
The perpetrators of this violence were never held to account and in 2013 a Citizens Tribunal was held to hear the stories and testimonies from the survivors and witnesses of this horrific event.
Real passages from these testimonies are combined with songs produced by David Bridie and performed by artists from across West Papua and their Pacific neighbours, including Radical Son (Kamilaroi/Tonga), Tio Bang (Vanuatu), Ronny Kareni (West Papua), Sixta Mambour (West Papua), Ferry Marisan (West Papua), Marcel Meltherorong (New Caledonia/Vanuatu), Eyuser Stringband and Mama Tineke (West Papua).
Maubere Timor
From soaring island vibes to hymns of the freedom fighters, veterans of Maubere Timor released a stunning 12-track album to memorialise a historical movement through music, to preserve the legacy for future generations.
1975 marked the beginning of a long and tiring journey of resistance for the people of Timor-Leste. After the Portuguese sudden departure after 400 years of occupation, Indonesia swept in and illegally occupied the territory. Stripped of their peaceful existence and claim to freedom the Timorese communicated with the outside world in the only way they could, through music. Far away in the mountains, members of the resistance known as the FALINTIL vigorously wrote and recorded a number of tracks instilling empowerment, strength and courage to feed East Timor's fight for peace. Through music they sent messages to one another and to the outside world, of independence and liberation of their home.
Maubere Timor is an ensemble of Timor-Leste veterans and guerrilla fighters who spread their messages of unification and peace through an album that touches on haunting topics of occupation, songs of their past that will solidify their heroic history, and the memory of the resistance movement.
Most tracks were penned and sung for the first time in the mountains of Timor-Leste by the FALINTIL and were smuggled out through clandestine channels to be used by the Timorese diaspora to raise awareness of their plight in the international fora.
Through song, the Timorese spread awareness of nationalism that served as motivation to maintain a sturdy battle for liberation of the oppressed. The many songs that were recorded spoke of experiences and adventures of war, anthems of preparation for guerrilla fighters and inspired generations to continue the fight for Independence.
As part of the Association’s activities, a band of brothers was formed in 2014 to bring association members together through music. The purpose of Maubere Timor was to revive music from the resistance and to honour songs from the past that are now apart of a long and vital history.
In collaboration with the Prime Minister's Office for Veteran's Affairs, Maubere Timor was brought to life in David Bridie's studio in Melbourne and mixed by Andy Robinson. The sound is passionate and acoustic, with soaring harmonies, laments and songs of inspiration. The idea is not dissimilar from the Buena Vista Social Club, where the veterans have reinvigorated songs of their countries past; this time it is from hills behind enemy lines.