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THE PORT’S CALL

3 – 12 Nov

Free

Fremantle’s Inner Harbour will be transformed by The Port’s Call, an expansive sonic installation by Thomas Supple and Byron J Scullin. Beginning at dawn on the first day of the Biennale and continuing until dusk on Sunday 12 November, the arrival and departure of each large vessel (regardless of the time of day), will be signalled by a bespoke soundscape.

With each passing vessel, a continually changing symphony of sound, using long-range acoustic technology, will echo throughout the Port. Stretching across a square kilometre, from the South Mole into Victoria Quay, the harbour will become a living stage for this sound experience, attuned to the rhythms of industry.

This symphony will also resound throughout the ports over sunset, a welcome, and a farewell to the sun as it clings to the horizon.

Combining human voices and subtle electronics, this auditory voyage invites listeners to consider anew the cacophony, movement and epic orchestra that is our global system of commercial goods.

Resonating across the surfaces of these iconic ocean goliaths, The Port’s Call is an unrepeatable experience calling us to voyage and this place of safe harbour.

Date and Time

Victoria Quay & Inner Harbour, Fremantle Port
3 – 12 Nov 2023
6am – 10pm daily

During every sunset and passing ship.

Ship movements can be found here, or follow our Instagram for live updates.



Thomas Supple is an artist and curator working across contemporary music, installation and sound. Tom has curated programs for Mona Foma, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Vivid Sydney, Perth Festival. He has been Senior Music Curator for Dark Mofo since the Tasmanian festival’s inception in 2013. His programming highlights there include world premiere performances from Nicolas Jaar (Against All Logic) and Antony & The Johnsons and Australian premieres from FKA Twigs, Jonsi & Alex, Einstürzende Neubauten, St Vincent and Tanya Tagaq. Tom has also contributed to the Dark Mofo visual arts program with Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang’s Chalkroom and American artist Matthew Schreiber’s monumental commission Leviathan. As an artist, Thomas has collaborated regularly with fellow Melbourne-based artists Hannah Fox and Byron Scullin. At the 2018 Perth Festival, the group presented Siren Song, a large-scale, outdoor sonic artwork that fills the skies of a city.

Byron J Scullin is a Melbourne based practitioner that explores the technological representation and amplification of sound as well as its properties as a physical presence. Operating in an ambiguous space where sound transitions into noise, Scullin’s sonic environments offer an experience of mass and multiplicity, often representing attempts to hear the unhearable. After an interest in synthesis at a young age, Scullin was mentored by producer and composer Francois Tetaz. He has since been involved in almost all aspects of audio in his twenty-year career, contributing sound to feature films such as Wolf Creek, contemporary dance productions by Lucy Guerin, Gideon Obarzanek, and Lee Serle, and theatre works by David Chisholm, Chamber Made Opera, and Arena Theatre Co. He has created installations for museums and galleries – including Creation Cinema as part of First Peoples at the Melbourne Museum – and produced, engineered and mastered numerous Australian and international recordings. He also works as a sound educator at RMIT and Melbourne University. A prolific collaborator, Scullin has worked closely with audio-visual artist Robin Fox and video artist Daniel Crooks, as well as Australian composers Anthony Pateras, Marco Fusinato, and Oren Ambarchi. He’s also helped realise sound for notable international artists including Bernard Parmegiani, Tony Conrad, and Steven O’Malley.


  • Victoria Quay & Inner Harbour, Fremantle Port
  • Information

    Duration:
    Various times between 6am – 10pm (daily) as ships arrive or depart from the Fremantle Port Inner Harbour. The sound will play for as long as the ship is moving through the harbour (approximately 10 – 15 minutes). Please visit HERE for the latest expected arrivals/departures.

     

    Viewing Locations: Victoria Quay Precinct. Best viewing between the Maritime Museum and C Shed at Fremantle Port.

     

    Event Information: The Port’s Call is a large-scale audio project and can be experienced across Victoria Quay. While this area is predominantly outdoors, shelter can be found outside the various sheds, as well as at venues such as Gage Roads and the E Shed Markets. 

     

    Latecomers: The Port’s Call can only be experienced when large vessels enter or exit Fremantle Port. To track estimated ship arrivals and departures, visit this website. We recommend arriving early in case ship movements differ to the predicted time.

     

    Facilities: Public Accessible toilets are located in the Maritime Museum or near E Shed Markets. Water will not be available, so please bring your own.

  • Getting There

    Public Transport:
    The Fremantle Ports are a very short walk from the Fremantle Train Station, which is the final destination for the Fremantle Train line, as well as several bus routes.

     

    Parking:
    Wilson Parking
    Ferry Parking

     

    Food & drink:
    Food and beverages will not be available on site, but there are several great hospitality options nearby including Gage Roads. Visit our Plan Your Visit section for our favourite cafes, restaurants and bars.

  • Access

    The event area is largely bitumen, sealed road. This work can be experienced anywhere in the Victoria Quay precinct, which is wheelchair accessible. Public accessible toilets are located in the Maritime Museum or near E Shed Markets. The nearest ACROD parking can be located at Wilson Parking and at Ferry Parking.

     

     

  • Image credit

    Photos:
    Feature: Nic Montagu
    Gallery
    1: Duncan Wright
    2-3: Nic Montagu

     


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