A landmark multi-artform work by Senegalese-born, Melbourne-based artist Lamine Sonko, created in collaboration with the National Theatre of Senegal, Guewel will premiere 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.
“Guewel is a journey through our shared human experience. Drawing on the wisdom of our cultural elders, it revives profound ancient knowledge of how we understand and experience the world around us,” said Lamine Sonko.
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.
“Guewel is a powerful testament to the strength of cultural memory and artistic exchange. It’s an honour to present this deeply collaborative work that bridges continents, generations and ways of sharing ancestral knowledge of Senegal,” said Naomi Velaphi – Arts House Head of Programming.
Lamine Sonko is a guewel of the Sing Sing clan and the Korings of Kaabu, and a member of the Wolof and Mandinka cultural communities of Senegal. As a custodian of sacred knowledge, he works across theatre, film and music to reimagine the meeting of traditional African and contemporary arts, guided by lived experiences with elders and community.
Director: Lamine Sonko | Performers: Awa Coulibaly, Aminata Sarr, Abdoul Aziz Ngom, Ndik Sene, Anita Quayle | Projection Design: Rhian Hinkley | Sound Design: Roger Alsop, Thomas ‘Soup’ Campbell | Visual Artist: Kine Aw | Costume Design: Lamine Diatta | Set Design: Suzie Bates | Lighting Design: Gina Gascoigne | Assistant Directors: Karen Berger, Dave Joseph | Cultural Elders: Oumy Sene, Bouly Sonko, Abibou Mbay | Producer: Olive Moynihan | Associate Producers: Sophia Kostava, Tanya Mclaine
Guewel
Arts House – North Melbourne Town Hall , 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Season: 12 – 16 November 2025
Information and Bookings: www.artshouse.com.au
Image: Guewel – photo by Olive Moynihan