Catching Breath is the first composition to the WOVEN SONG series, it responds to the tapestry of the same name, designed by Brook Andrew and woven at the ATW in 2015.

Currently, on loan to the Australian High Commission, Singapore, the Catching Breath tapestry subject peers through a veil, the eyes focused beyond the fabric, catching our attention, our breath; as though we can decide whether or not to lift the veil, to reveal the unknown. Catching Breath sits within Andrew’s broader body of work that engages archival portraits of people from around the world. The veil of time hides their identities and raises questions regarding memory, its conceptual and visual potency linking local with international histories.

Cheetham’s response to Catching Breath focusses on the way the veil masks an unnamed Indigenous warrior’s identity at the same time as questioning his lack of name and place in history. It is a demand by Cheetham and her collaborating performers for the man’s name to be revealed, acknowledged and spoken of, to reclaim his place in Australian history.

Featuring artists from Short Black Opera, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Catching Breath premiered at Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, Singapore in April 2018.