The art gallery
Using art to communicate environmental messages
EcoForum has commissioned visual artists from The Australian National University (ANU) and the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University, to develop artworks based on on a generic brief concerning land and water contamination and remediation; as well as their individual responses to the issues associated with the rehabilitation of Cockatoo Island, a former convict prison and naval shipyard located in Sydney Harbour. The island is currently being revitalised for public use by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, an Australian Government agency responsible for directing the remediation of degraded and contaminated sites around the foreshores of Sydney Harbour.
The art display on brownfield site rehabilitation will be associated with the conference stream of “Communicating Risk to Create Acceptable Outcomes”.
With its distinctive cranes and water tower, heavy industrial machinery, large cogs and hooks on display, disused workshops, tunnels, powerhouse and turbine hall and array of sandstone convict buildings, Cockatoo Island is a truly inspiring place for artists. Artists in the gallery will also be available during the EcoForum event to talk to delegates about their work.
Media include painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography, glass and an installation work.
The group that visited Cockatoo Island on 9 October 2007 with ANU Senior Lecturer John Reid, Paul Howlett and EcoForum event managers Margaret and David Bates. During this visit they were briefed by Nick Hollo, Deputy Executive Director, Sydney Harbour Federation Trust and some technologists and practitioners about the challenges of site restoration. It is this knowledge, the on-site historical and industrial imagery, and the direct observational experience of the field trip, that will inform the artworks.
Preview of artwork
