This November, the National Museum of Australia, in collaboration with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), will bring the groundbreaking exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters to the Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site Museum in New Delhi. This marks the National Museum of Australia’s first big showcase in India, introducing audiences to one of the most powerful creation sagas of Australia’s First Nations peoples.
Songlines chronicles the epic tale of a group of ancestral women travelling across vast desert landscapes, pursued by a shape-shifting sorcerer. More than a dramatic narrative, the exhibition reveals how story, law, ceremony, and Indigenous wisdom are embedded within the land itself, all rooted in tjukurrpa—their Aboriginal Law.
After premiering in Canberra in 2017, the exhibition has travelled to Germany, UK, France, and Finland. New Delhi will be its fifth international destination. The viewers can expect a rare encounter with one of the world’s most intricate cultural storytelling traditions.
Presented across five thematic sections, the exhibition brings over 300 works including paintings, performances, photography, animation, and immersive media. Together they will map the Seven Sisters’ journey across Western and Central Desert songlines, routes that are both spiritual and practical, guiding travellers to water, food, and sacred sites through story and memory.
One of the exhibition’s highlights is the DomeLab, the world’s highest-resolution travelling dome. Beneath its sweeping seven-metre-wide screen, visitors will be introduced to the imagery of remote rock art from South Australia’s Cave Hill, animated artworks, and celestial movements of the Orion constellation and the Pleiades. The result will be an experience that transports viewers directly into the Country.
National Museum of Australia Director Katherine McMahon said she is proud to take such a culturally significant exhibition to India. “After its successful tour of Europe, we are delighted to bring Australia’s cultural treasures closer to home, and to India where ancient connections are deeply shared.”
“First Nations Australians have sustained the world’s oldest living culture for more than 65,000 years and Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters is a powerful and moving example of the Museum’s decades-long collaboration with Indigenous communities. We are proud to play our part in taking a First Nations exhibition of this scale and significance to global audiences,” added Ms McMahon.
Kiran Nadar, Founder and Chairperson, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi said, “The opening of Songlines exhibition in India marks a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to cross-cultural dialogue and public engagement with art. Developed by the National Museum of Australia, this expansive and immersive presentation brings to life the powerful narratives of the Seven Sisters songline—an epic story deeply rooted in Indigenous Australian culture. By merging ancient storytelling traditions with cutting-edge technology, the exhibition invites audiences in India to experience a journey that transcends geography and time. Through collaborations like these, we aim to deepen understanding and appreciation of shared human heritage, celebrating the timeless wisdom of communities and their connection to the land.”
