Beeyali is a Kabi Kabi word meaning “to call” and a creative collaborative research project using science to visualise the calls of wildlife. Conceived by Lyndon Davis, a Kabi Kabi man, in collaboration with sound artist Leah Barclay and photographer Tricia King, Beeyali was first commissioned as a large-scale projection work for New Light 2021, presented by ANAT and Illuminate Adelaide in association with the Adelaide Festival Centre.

We experimented with cymatics, an interdisciplinary field studying visible sound vibrations, where patterns are created in substances like sand or water when exposed to sound frequencies. Pioneered scientist by Hans Jenny in the 1960s, cymatics revealed how sound waves generate intricate geometric patterns, drawing parallels between these forms and natural patterns in ecosystems. Beeyali is guided by Lyndon’s belief that understanding these patterns is fundamental to human health and connection to Country.

Blending Indigenous knowledge, creative practices, and technology, the Beeyali project aims to sound an alarm for the multitude of vulnerable species on the brink of extinction in Australia.