Transposing an Echo presents work of Three Bird Poems, a digital artist’s book that explores cultural values embedded in Setswana oral poetry. The work reimagines these oral traditions through interactive audiovisual design, offering a layered, sensory experience. The poem Koagodira evokes a mythical past in which people and birds communicated in a symbiotic relationship. In contrast, Pekwa celebrates the falcon through a playful visual interpretation of movement and flight, inviting reflection on the idea of embodiment. The interactive poem Nnonyane tse pedi (Two Birds) prompts deeper contemplation on migration, belonging, and the liminal space of coming and going, drawing parallels between avian and human journeys.

Through parallax animation and principles of ergodic literature, Three Bird Poems invites active participation, transforming oral traditions into a digitally immersive experience. While the digital artefact encourages interactive exploration, the accompanying physical artist’s book offers a contrasting moment of stillness and reflection. Printed on seed paper, the book evokes the light footprints of birds—treading the earth gently, arriving, departing, and guiding.Birds are all around us—often in the background—resilient creatures engaged in building, homing, and communicating in subtle codes. Visually and metaphorically, Transposing an Echo explores what birds can teach us about connection, adaptation, and the rhythms of life.

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