Ḡaumaḡauma (pronounced ow-ma-ow-ma), meaning ‘the act of taming’ or ‘recognition of the bloodline’ in the Balawaian language, refers to both a spoken mantra and a ritual enacted when passing through sacred sites. Through this practice, ancestral spirits are alerted to the presence of kin, ensuring protection for those who pass.

Functioning as a transitional space, a threshold or portal, the gallery space is reimagined as a sacred site through which one moves from one state or realm to another. At both entryways to the gallery, a leaf with a hole hollowed out of its centre hangs in the doorframes.

Traditionally, these magical leaves are used to ward off a great serpent, a mystical being invisible to the naked eye. In the ritual of ‘ḡaumaḡauma’, a protective rite, the leaf is ceremonially waved twice to the right and twice to the left, a gesture that prepares the body for passage and shields it from unseen forces.

Performance Video Documentation ︎︎︎
Exhibition Soundscape ︎︎︎