In Urban Theatre Projects' Blak Box – Four Winds, elders and future leaders from Blacktown’s Aboriginal community invite audiences into a surround-sound listening pavilion, to hear stories and gain a deeper and broader understanding of contemporary Aboriginality.

Four Winds is both a remembering of the past and a collective vision for the future. It features Elders Uncle Wes Marne and Aunty Edna Watson and teens Savarna Russell and Shaun Millwood as they engage each other in a dialogue that bridges generational divides. Four Winds features new music from songwoman Emma Donovan and violinist Eric Avery. The work is informal and inquisitive, sombre and funny, gentle and insistent, powerfully highlighting the urgent need for all their voices to be heard.

In a 21st century campfire experience inspired by the concept of ‘deep listening’, a soundscape of music and stories ranges over thousands of years: a cross-generational dialogue bridging the past and the future.

After a successful opening season at Barangaroo, Blak Box moves to Blacktown – the largest Aboriginal community in Australia – for Sydney Festival. Blak Box is designed by award-winning architect Kevin O'Brien and the deep listening experience Four Winds is curated by Daniel Browning, with lighting by Karen Norris.

“With this soundscape I’ve tried to really get at what it means to be conscious of every beat, every breath, every musical note, every birdsong. It goes with this concept of deep listening - being fully cognisant of everything going on around you” – Curator Daniel Browning.

“The wholepoint of the project [is] to make you aware of Country" – Architect Kevin O'Brien.