The Resonant Heart - Forest Living Room

A modern ancestral ode to exiles and new beginnings.

The Resonant Heart is a Melbourne-based collective of CALD and BIPOC women and female-identifying artists from around the globe. Championing diverse perspectives, the artists unite to create multidisciplinary work that celebrates the intimate knowledge of the heart.

In their latest creation, Forest Living Room, the collective presents a modern ancestral ode to exiles and new beginnings, love and grief, and the persistent pull toward rebirth – tracing the connection between the human spirit, the natural world, and the many forms of life within it.

Seamlessly blending dance, gesture, shadow puppetry, and multilingual poetry, the performance features songs and poems in Farsi, Nuer, Hindi, Bosnian, Serbian, Ladino, and English, accompanied by instruments from Western, Indian, Persian, Turkish, and Greek traditions.

Developed by the collective's artists, the piece draws on each performer's own heritage, treating the work itself as a ritual of belonging. Ancient cultural references sit alongside contemporary performance practice, creating a world that feels at once familiar and mythic.

Praise for The Resonant Heart

‘...an inviting space for the audience to immerse themselves in moments of song, laughter, and tears, fostering a shared emotional connection and a sense of vulnerability within the performance...’ – Arts Hub

This concert is part of our Hear Beyond concert series. Hear Beyond is generously supported by the Robert Salzer Foundation.

Tickets

Standard $45 ($40 Concession)

Please note, seating in the Primrose Potter Salon is General Admission.

A Transaction Fee between $4 and $8.50 applies to orders made online and by phone. Delivery Fees may also apply. A ticket limit of six is in place online to ensure fair ticket access for all. Want to bring a bigger party? Call our Box Office during business hours on (03) 9699 3333 to book.

Artists

Nela Trifkovic vocals, frame drum
Irine Vela laouto, frame drum
Kelly Dowall ney flute, clarinet, frame drum
Vahideh Eisaei vocals, qanun
Sarita McHarg vocals, sitar, dholak
Lizzy Kuoth vocals, spoken word, percussion, movement
Elnaz Sheshgelani vocals, spoken word, movement, shadow puppetry

Program

The Resonant Heart
Chargam / The Beginning 
HIRA MAE / COME HERE
Moja bol / My Pain

Nela Trifkovic
Indome Para Marsillia

The Resonant Heart
Hieram / The Cloud Song

Traditional Greek
Kalamatianos

Irine Vela
Arabina

The Resonant Heart
For My Ancestors
Chargam Adam / The End

About the Artist

Founded in 2020 by Bosnian-Australian artist Nela Trifkovic with her colleagues Irine Vela and Kelly Dowall from SARAY Iluminado, The Resonant Heart has grown into an ongoing creative collaboration among a diverse group of international women and female-identifying artists.

Current members include South Sudanese poet Lizzy Kuoth, Indian sitarist and vocalist Sarita McHarg, Iranian qanun player Vahideh Eisaei and theatre, puppetry, and movement artist Elnaz Sheshgelani, together with the founding members Nela Trifkovic, Irine Vela and Kelly Dowall.

Their debut EP, The Heart Whispers and Whirls, released in June 2025, traces an emotional journey — opening with a prayer for humanity, moving through ancestral connection, and falling in love, before sorrow gives way to renewal.