During her residency in Makassar, Indonesia, Naoko Uemoto will develop compositional methods that support her improvisatory, electroacoustic performance practice. The scores will be developed through conversations and shared practice with musicians and knowledge holders, deep listening to place and field-recordings.  

Through these activities, Uemoto will how explore how local beliefs about spiritual presence and materiality inform musicking practices. Her research will consider how spiritual presence inhabits materials and places; the relations created through wind passing through bodies and bodies through wind; and protocols for listening and sounding that have emerged from sacred or spiritually-significant contexts. 

Naoko Uemoto’s residency, along with that of Gina Korompot, marks the third year of BREEZE, a collaborative initiative between PICA, Rumata’ Artspace, and Universitas Negeri Makassar. This partnership fosters knowledge-sharing and cultural exploration, strengthening the ties between Western Australia and Makassar. By revisiting the historical connections between Australian First Nations peoples and Makassans—dating back to well before colonisation—BREEZE provides a vital platform for intercultural dialogue and collaboration.