Sonia Leber and David Chesworth, Shapes of Listening, 2024, 2-channel 4K video, 5.1 audio. Video still courtesy of the artists. This project has been supported by Creative Victoria and Creative Australia.
Dancenorth is located on the corner of Walker and Stanley Streets: 188-210 Stanley St, Gurambilbarra / Townsville, QLD Australia 4810.
View the interactive PUNQ Art Trail Map for directions.
Venue Accessibility- The ground floor of the venue is fully accessible, this includes the Dancenorth Theatre, foyer, bar, main offices and wheelchair accessible toilet.
- The main entrance is located at Stanley Street and accessible via wheelchair lift.
- There is a drop off area outside the Clarion Hotel on Stanley Street, 50m from our main entrance. Please contact Dancenorth prior to your visit to if you have any questions (07) 4772 2549.
- Dancenorth warmly welcomes assistance animals.
This is a free event.
Sunday 28 July 10.30am - 12.15pm
In Conversation | Shapes of Listening
PUNQ 2024 and Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM) warmly invite the Townsville arts and science communities to attend Shapes of Listening: In Conversation. A look behind the curtains at the work of the researchers, experimental scientists, rangers and artists whose work and vision have fueled the creation of Shapes of Listening. Shapes of Listening is a sensorial video and sound installation that prompts questions around the act of listening.
Join artists Sonia Leber and David Chesworth in conversation with bat researcher Simon Robson, land and sea ranger Watjah Johnson and experimental scientist, Cathie Page. Discover how Shapes of Listening emerged from their artist residency in Gurambilbarra / Townsville, where Sonia and David explored different ways that listening can be used to investigate local ecologies.
Please arrive at 10.30am to experience Shapes of Listening prior to the floor talk at 11am.
Shapes of Listening has been supported by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, and the Australian Government through Creative Australia.
The Shapes of Listening exhibition runs from Saturday 27 July - Sunday 11 August (Weekdays from 9:30am - 4:30pm), click here to find out more.
About The ArtistSonia Leber & David Chesworth
The Artists
Sonia Leber and David Chesworth are known for their distinctive video, sound and architecture-based installations that are audible as much as visible. Leber and Chesworth’s works are speculative and archaeological, often involving communities and elaborated from research in places undergoing social, technological or local geological transformation. Their works emerge from the real but exist significantly in the realm of the imaginary, hinting at unseen forces and non-human perspectives.
Leber and Chesworth’s work has been the subject of solo and group exhibitions at National Gallery of Victoria (2023); Casino Luxembourg Forum d'art Contemporain, Luxembourg (2023); TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville (2022); Messums Wiltshire, UK (2021); Fondation Fiminco, Paris (2021); UNSW Galleries, Sydney (2019); annex M, Megaron, Athens (2018); Galeria Labirynt, Lublin, Poland (2018); Index, Stockholm (2018); Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (2018); Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne (2017); Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne (2017); Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne (2016); Venice Biennale (2015); and Biennale of Sydney (2014).
The artists live and work in Naarm / Melbourne, Australia
A full project history can be found at www.leberandchesworth.com.
Simon Robson, Bat Researcher
Central Queensland University
Microbats are everywhere in Townsville, mostly unseen in dark crevices, and flying out at night. Professor Simon Robson, a leading microbat researcher, uses Anabat recorders to capture microbat sounds that are inaudible to human ears. He’s an expert on their calls, identifying species from their sonic patterns, also identifying different types of echolocation, social calls and microbat behaviours.
Wahtjah Johnson, Ranger
MinggaMingga Land and Sea Rangers
MinggaMingga Rangers regularly monitor land and mangrove environments as well as local sacred sites. With a focus on aquaculture, Wahtjah Johnson will discuss his ranger experience on the Palm Islands including the community work in junior ranger programs.
Cathie Page, Experimental Scientist
AIMS Australian Institute of Marine Science
Marine creatures are surrounded by a complex underwater soundscape. Dr Cathie Page will discuss how fish and coral larvae listen, and how they are guided by sound to settle on healthier reefs. Cathie is part of a team at AIMS exploring the role of sound in coral reef environments.
Dancenorth is located on the corner of Walker and Stanley Streets: 188-210 Stanley St, Gurambilbarra / Townsville, QLD Australia 4810.
View the interactive PUNQ Art Trail Map for directions.
Venue Accessibility- The ground floor of the venue is fully accessible, this includes the Dancenorth Theatre, foyer, bar, main offices and wheelchair accessible toilet.
- The main entrance is located at Stanley Street and accessible via wheelchair lift.
- There is a drop off area outside the Clarion Hotel on Stanley Street, 50m from our main entrance. Please contact Dancenorth prior to your visit to if you have any questions (07) 4772 2549.
- Dancenorth warmly welcomes assistance animals.
This is a free event.
Back to Home
PUNQ respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region; Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.
PUNQ respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region; Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.
PUNQ is produced by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts. The festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. Townsville City Council is a funding partner of PUNQ.