Performance as an act of generosity: Sharing Aboriginal stories through drone dramaturgy in Moombaki
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abstract
Moombaki is a three-part drone light performance that premiered in Western Australia at the Fremantle Biennale in 2021. Billed as “an epic spectacle of light, movement and sound”, the performance took place over eight nights and included 160 drones which “took flight over the bilya (river) and wardan (ocean) to reveal a series of connected stories” (Fremantle Biennale). Moombaki translates from local Aboriginal (Nyoongar) language into “where river meets sky” (Biennale). The work combined the choreographed drone performance with a narrative guided by story and knowledge held by the traditional owners of the land to explore notions of “place” and provide an insight into ideas and images of what the land means to this community of elders. In this exploratory chapter, we consider the significance and complexity of this event in which stories (pre-colonization) are combined with drone technology to subvert notions of power, ownership and control in a subtle, creative and unsettling dramaturgy. The combination of drones—most commonly linked to warfare and surveillance—artistic image-making and powerful voice-over imagines the landscape through stories that are often obfuscated by the dominant culture—creates a performance that demands careful consideration and detailed response in light of ideas of decolonization and resistance.
Keywords
drone performance, Indigenous storytelling, Nyoongar culture, decolonization, performance dramaturgy, Aboriginal narratives
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
Routledge Companion to Performance and Technology
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)
RAS ID
102045
ISBN
[9781032678603, 9781040512272]
Copyright
free_to_read
First Page
528
Last Page
537
Recommended Citation
Chau, C., & Grehan, H. (2026). Performance as an act of generosity: Sharing Aboriginal stories through drone dramaturgy in Moombaki. In M. Bleeker & N. Zuniga Shaw (Eds.), Routledge companion to performance and technology (pp. 528–537). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003482697-46