Albany’s “Lighting the Sound” brings Menang stories to the sky in major cultural moment

A vast light installation spanning King George Sound near Albany is drawing national and international attention, with organisers and Menang Elders framing the work as both a spectacle and a platform for First Nations storytelling and reconciliation.

The installation, titled Lighting the Sound, is being staged as part of Albany’s bicentenary program and is presented by cultural organisation FORM in collaboration with Finnish light artist Kari Kola. It uses hundreds of lights and large-scale beams across the harbour and night sky, with the design shaped through consultation and leadership from Menang Elders.

For Menang man Larry Blight, the project’s creative starting point is grounded in Country and language. “This is bloodroot. Our people were named after it” he said, describing the plant that inspired the work’s red “root” motif and its connection to Menang identity and history.

Kola has described the work as a story-led response to place, not simply an imported art concept. “Then Larry showed me the bloodroot. Everything started from there” he said, explaining how the Menang narrative anchored the project’s development.

Beyond the visual impact, the installation is being framed as a rare opportunity to centre Menang perspectives within a major public event that also acknowledges Albany’s complex colonial history. Menang elder Carol Pettersen said the project is intended to hold multiple truths at once. “We’re choosing to use the word commemorate” she said. “It’s about recognising the past and celebrating the future.”

Local organisers describe the project as “Menang-first” and a community-owned initiative that creates space for “tens of thousands of years of unbroken connection” to be shared with visitors and residents. The event is scheduled across multiple weekends through March, with viewing locations and crowd management coordinated locally.

For many attendees, the installation is also prompting a broader conversation about what reconciliation looks like in practice: not just acknowledgment but shared decision-making, cultural authority and public storytelling led by Traditional Owners.