Echoes of spring: water memories workshop

Gili Gatherings X Neighbourhood Matters:

As the season of renewal approaches, join us for a transformative experience led by acclaimed Wiradjuri and Gadigal woman, Akala Newman. In this workshop, you'll learn to glow on the inside, empowering yourself to glow on the outside. Deep listening, and connection with your inner self and place are at the heart of this experience. Come along and discover how to let your light shine brighter than ever before.

Step into a space of reflection and creativity. We'll begin by acknowledging Country, recognising the deep ties between water, memory, and land. Immerse yourself in a guided meditation focused on water, spring, and new beginnings highlighting key thoughts and images that resonate with your inner journey. A guided walk will further inspire you, allowing you to add more words to your evolving personal narrative. Reimagining or conjuring images of place, feeling, or connection. Let your creativity flow with watercolour and poetry to create a recorded collaborative soundscape.

Disclaimer: Akala Newman is a multidisciplinary artist sharing her personal creative methods that work for her. Gili Gatherings is dedicated to creating safer spaces where participants are welcome to participate as they feel comfortable, with respect for yourself and others. No previous experience is needed. We hope that you walk away from this workshop with a moment of solace, ready to embrace the possibilities that spring brings.

Akala Newman

Akala Newman is a Wiradjuri/Gadigal multi-disciplinary performer, songwriter, educator, and cultural producer celebrated for her cultural care practices. Hailed by The Urban List as a “Bonafide triple threat we really can’t get enough of at the moment,” Akala’s diverse career spans from early performances with the NSW Youth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dance Company to her First Class Honors in Performance and Art from Sydney University. Known for her unique fusion of fantasy and magic, Akala challenges contemporary notions of what it means to be a First Nations woman through her music.

Akala’s accolades include writing and performing 'Calling Country' for the Sydney Opera House New Year's Eve Fireworks and winning the inaugural Indigitube song contest with her track ‘Spell on Me.’ She has performed at prestigious events such as the National Indigenous Music Awards and the Women's World Cup draw in Aotearoa. Her artistic journey also includes starring in Brook Andrew’s GABAN for the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Sydney Modern.

In addition to her artistic endeavors, Akala has contributed significantly as a cultural advisor and academic. She is currently a First Nations Advisor at Arts and Cultural Exchange, a First Nations Academic Lecturer and Support Officer at the National Art School, an Artist Educator at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, and an Intimacy Coordinator with Key Intimate Scenes Australia. In 2023, Akala received funding from Create NSW - Creative Koori Projects and began her residency at the iconic Red Rattler Theatre, where she founded Gili Gatherings to re-imagine live events through curated residencies, performances, and workshops that celebrate and center First Nations, CALD, and LGBTQI+ creatives.