composition of soil – a meditation
Xen Nhà
from soil to memory
from hands to soil
In the dark, a seed, with generations before it, cracks open towards the light
This is a sound meditation on soil, memory, anti-capitalist time and our responsibility to care for the sacred lands and waters that we live on. Stratified across time, soil tells us exactly what we cannot forget even if we cannot see what’s there (anymore). Imprinted in its layers is a living history that each of us is responsible for. We listen. We remember. We act.
This piece was recorded and composed on Walbunja Country of the Yuin Nations as well as on Wurundjeri Country of the Kulin Nations. Both these First Nations lands on which I have produced this work have deeply shaped my relationship with sacred lands and waters over my lifetime. Thankyou to the First Nations Elders, young ones and communities that continue to not only care and fight for Country, but show the rest of us a way to be in right relationship with her.
Đật Nước Không Quên.
All recordings by Xen Nhà. Birds on Yuin Country recorded by Xen Nhà and Thảo Lý. Photo credit: film still from Suzaku (1997), written and directed by Naomi Kawase.