t h e r i s i n g t i d e
A song to gather
A 10–15m whale built by many hands in Queensland, Australia
W H A T T H I S I S
WE ARE BUILDING A Whale
10–15 metres
Engineered timber structure
Built by many hands
No single author
Covered in stories
Each contribution becomes part of it
This is not something one person can build.
T H E V I S I O N
A SONG THAT HAS NEVER STOPPED TRAVELLING
The Rising Tide is the conceptual spine for the building of the whale project — a prose-poem that sets the terms of interpretation. Every community that works on the whale begins here.
There is a sound beneath.
Before language.
Before memory.
Before us.
Life was held—
not owned,
not named—
held
in water,
in darkness.
A spark.
Restless.
Reaching
beyond itself.
Life, striving to live.
It multiplied.
It travelled.
Some turned toward land.
Others stayed.
Some rose
to hold,
to touch,
to wipe the salt
from the face of their young
with the softness
of their hands.
Others returned
to the waterline,
building the hull of something,
moving through the depths
as if through a memory.
Holding the darkness
as their home.
And there,
in stillness,
they felt the hum of tides
something calling.
Breath
became hum.
Hum
became song.
So they sang
to their young,
to life,
to one another.
And that song has not stopped.
It has travelled
through oceans,
through distance,
through time.
A sound
unbroken.
Seventy-one percent of the Earth
is ocean.
And within it live the great mothers
guardians of the endless,
keepers of the first lullabies,
singing tidal life.
Those voices have not ceased singing the songs that first held life.
Songs that moved the
ice beneath the surface.
And sometimes,
a whole sea
can hear it.
Rising.
Returning.
A call from the deep.
A song of remembering.
Our song
from beneath the water,
returning
with The Rising Tide.
H O W T O B E P A R T
you are already Part Of This.
FOR MAKERS
JOIN THE BUILD
If you practice a craft — any craft — we want to hear from you. No experience needed.
Be there, or send your piece.
• Come to the gathering in Queensland
• Or post your craft
Your work becomes part of the whale.
FOR SUPPORTERS
SUPPORT the build
Help it rise.
• Fund materials, transport, and time
• Support the people bringing it to life
Any amount matters.
Every contribution becomes part of the same work.
Know someone who should be part of this?
P E O P L E A R E J O I N I G F R O M E V E R Y W H E R E
Dean Smith 〰️ Jo Barak
〰️ Hanna Pine
〰️
Dean Smith 〰️ Jo Barak 〰️ Hanna Pine 〰️
Dean Smith 〰️ Jo Barak
〰️ Hanna Pine
〰️
Dean Smith 〰️ Jo Barak 〰️ Hanna Pine 〰️
YOUR NAME BELONGS HERE