Walker Street Gallery show runs from 9 September

Annalouise Paul will make her first Melbourne and Victorian appearance with a new exhibition at Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre in Dandenong from 9 September to 14 November 2026.

The show, Uncharted Waters. The Journey of Mother Tongue, is presented and produced by Greater Dandenong City Council and curated by Miriam La Rosa.

At its centre is Primordial (2026), a newly commissioned dance film shown inside a spiral-shaped architectural installation. Visitors can enter the spiral and move through the work instead of viewing it from one fixed point.

As people move through the structure, the work shifts between movement, sound, image and space. The gallery says that approach turns the room into an immersive environment where contemporary art, dance and architecture meet.

“What if language began in the body?” Paul said.

“For me, dance is a mother tongue. Through movement, we can access ways of knowing, remembering and connecting that exist beyond words. This exhibition invites audiences to explore the languages that shape our relationships with one another, our communities and the world around us.”

The exhibition draws on more than 15 years of research through Paul’s ongoing project Mother Tongue. That interdisciplinary project explores culture, memory and embodied knowledge.

Paul has developed Mother Tongue with dancers, musicians, designers and technologists from a range of cultural contexts. Those collaborators include people connected to Torres Strait, North India, West Africa, Sumatra, Brazil and Polynesia.

Known for work across performance, film, theatre, opera and community-engaged practice, Paul has built an international reputation over years of intercultural projects. Her work also draws on her Sephardic heritage, especially its links to the flamenco traditions of Spain.

Greater Dandenong City Council said the commission reflects its focus on contemporary art and new cultural practice. The exhibition marks a new stage in Paul’s career by extending her choreographic work into a gallery setting.

Spiral installation changes how visitors view Primordial

Rather than standing back from a screen, visitors will walk into the spiral installation as the film unfolds around them. That layout changes perspective as people move, revealing different relationships between the film, the architecture and the sound.

Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre will open the exhibition during its regular hours from Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 3pm. Admission is free.