One River local artists visit Canberra
Over the weekend of 8 and 9 December this year, 10 of One River’s 12 local artists travelled from places as far away as Augathella, Bourke and Goolwa to Canberra for an induction weekend.
“After so much behind the scenes planning, it was great to finally meet with artists from all across the Murray-Darling Basin,” Local Projects Manager Donna Jackson said. “Hearing them talk about their home towns, some of them really remote, their past projects and their plans for working with their communities for One River made the whole project come to life.”
The artists spent two days together getting briefed on various aspects of project delivery, hearing about each other’s work and further developing their project ideas. Projects include visual arts installations, a geocaching treasure hunt, a flotilla of paper boats lit from within, stories embedded in rocks, video projections on water and farm machinery, dance on a riverbank and a massed choir event. On Saturday evening they artists joined the Traditional Boat Owners Association for a BBQ on Springbank Island before heading home on Sunday afternoon.
One River’s local projects span four states and a territory and in terms of geographic spread, about one fifth of the land mass of Australia. In sheer scale, it is one of the largest arts projects attempted in Australia.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the work develop in the ten different locations and then bringing it to Canberra as part of the centenary celebrations in August 2013,” Donna said. “Through these projects we’ll be able to tell a new story about life within the Murray-Darling Basin and about Canberra’s role’s as the largest city in the Basin.”
