A living lineage shaped by ancestral knowledge
Guewel is a landmark multi-artform work by Senegalese-born, Melbourne-based artist Lamine Sonko, created in collaboration with the National Theatre of Senegal. It premieres at Arts House this November.
A ritual journey, Guewel fuses live music, animated projection, filmed landscapes and sacred dance to convey gestural languages rich with history, cosmology and collective memory.
Blending traditional rhythms and chants with Western strings and digital animation, Guewel bridges ancient culture and contemporary expression.
Seven years in the making, the work draws audiences into an ancient African cosmovision – a metaphysical view of the world where rhythm, movement and storytelling serve as sacred channels of ancestral knowledge.
Developed through long-term collaboration with artists and elders in Senegal and Australia, Guewel revives ritual performance to explore themes of life and death, spirit and community as well as the enduring ties across generations.
The word guewel refers to a living heritage. In West African cultures, guewels are custodians of sacred knowledge, oral tradition and spiritual practice. It is a role often passed from mother to child.
From early childhood, Sonko absorbed this lineage as a guewel, guided by his mother and cultural elder Oumy Sène, who featured in his documentary Deup that premiered at ACMI in 2022.
Guewel also marks the National Theatre of Senegal’s first Australian performance in over 40 years.
Through deep consultation and cross-cultural collaboration, Guewel brings together the National Theatre of Senegal and Melbourne-based artists in a powerful offering of ancestral knowledge and creative renewal.
November 12 – 16
artshouse.com.au
