Melanesian magic comes to Melbourne
A music and visual experience of Solomon Islands that celebrates the beauty of the landscape and it’s diverse people will be shared with Melbourne audiences at the Fringe Festival in late September. The immersive installation features the music of more than 40 musicians and the portraits of 900 people from across the country.
“Solomon Islands is an extraordinary country that very few people get a chance to visit,” says Patrick Rose, a UN photographer who created the work. “This show invites Melbourne to feel the same wonder and joy that I experienced everywhere in Solomon Islands.
Rose was working on a climate adaptation project for UNDP and travelled to every province in the country, photographing the people and recording traditional choirs and string bands. Heart for Solo is a non narrative, poetic distillation of his extensive travels to remote islands.
“I wanted to share more than what the UN was able to share, so I developed Heart for Solo as a way to feature the faces, natural beauty and incredibly talented musicians I was privileged to record,” says Rose.
The installation debuted at the National Gallery in Honiara in December 2018.. It’s been featured at the Australian National University symposium, ‘Climate Change Adaptation in Asia and the Pacific: Is Gender relevant?’ and the work was screened at the Environment Center in Wellington, Aotearoa.
At the Melbourne Fringe Festival the installation will be open from 9-6 everyday from 24-28 th September at Siteworks in Brunswick. The two channel experience plays on a loop and audiences are invited to drop in and out.
Rose says he was heartened by audiences lingering for hours to enjoy the music and images when the work was shared elsewhere.
“Stripping away the UN jargon has created a universal experience where people can reflect on our shared humanity,” says Rose.
The communities where Rose worked are all vulnerable to climate changes. Some are facing erosion and displacement from sea level rise, while others are coping with drought and food security concerns.
“All the 900 people you meet in the show are struggling with climate change and their faces tell a story,” says Rose. “The installation invites us into a space of compassion and contemplation as we consider how climate change will devastate Solomon Islands in the coming decades. It’s a poignant appreciation of the beauty of these cultures that are disappearing.”
Heart for Solo is suitable for all audiences, including school groups. It’s free to the public and open all day from 24 September. It can be found at the Siteworks center at 33 Saxon Street in Brunswick.
For more information, please contact Patrick Rose patrick@befortheflood.org
Click here to see a gallery of Heart for Solo installation photos
