1

ARTS PROGRAM FOR RESTORE, REGENERATE,

REVEGETATION CONFERENCE

David Mackay: New England

Stringybark, Eucalyptus caliginosa

Print on paper, 45 x 60 cm.

2

ARTS PROGRAM FOR RESTORE, REGENERATE AND REVEGETATE CONFERENCE

As a particular feature of this conference a visual and performing arts

program has been especially designed to entertain and to encourage

reflection on alternative media for communicating ecology with society. The

arts program includes:

A specially commissioned Conference Image

This image will act as the conference image, symbolising the main themes of the

conference. This has been done by botanical artist David Mackay and a limited

edition of prints of this image will be on sale at the conference and in its lead up.

Spectacular dance and music opening

Excerpts from the oratorio God’s Drawing Board by Ralph Steadman and Elena

Kats-Chernin will be performed by dancers under the choreography of Melissa

Killen and musicians under the musical direction of Melita Roache. A special dance

film has been created by film-maker Sarah Watson.

Musical performances at the conference barbeque and dinner

Classical guitar duo Ephenstephen will perform at the conference barbeque and

rockabilly band the Bobcatz will perform at the conference dinner.

Fabric installation summarising elements of the conference

The conference will feature beautifully printed fabric by local artist Cat Macgregor

hung in the main conference auditorium, to provide a rich setting for the conference

as well as to provide alternative media in getting over ecological information to the

general public.

Environmental street theatre

Armidale High School and Duval High School Drama students have devised a

series of short theatrical pieces about ‘the environment’, to be performed at the

conference reception.

Performance of Nova-anglica by Dave Eddy

This specially devised performance combines rich visual imagery and exciting

music to evoke the ecosystems of New England, their ravaging through dieback,

and their restoration by community action. It will be performed at the Armidale

Town Hall in conjunction with a free public forum being organised by the Armidale

Tree Group.

Artist in residence at the conference

The conference has invited the artist Leah MacKinnon to act as artist in residence at

the conference. Her art specialises in art that engages with ecological themes.

3

Special conference cups

Beautiful ceramic cups have been made especially for the conference by local

ceramic artist Rachel Lawrence. The cups will have some element that relates to

grassland ecology, be it native grass motifs, a glaze composed of plant ashes

obtained from local grassland plants, or using local clay that has come from the

creek-bed of one of the revegetation plantings that will be visited as part of the

conference.

Launch of Dazed by Dieback comic

This comic book by ecologist David Curtis, explores the causes of rural dieback

and the solutions through ecological restoration and revegetation. It will be

launched at the conference barbeque along with a parallel exhibition of the comic’s

artwork at the Armidale Tree Group Michael O’Keeffe Woodland Education

Centre.

Artists Table

Artworks will be on sale, including prints of the conference image, the conference

mugs, Dazed by Dieback comics, Cat MacGregor’s fabrics and tea towels, etc.

Art gallery tour

A special tour of the art galleries in Armidale is planned for conference delegates

and associates. Galleries have been selected which will be holding exhibitions that

feature work which include ecological themes.

The arts program is designed to:

Encourage scientists to reflect on alternative media to communicate their science

to society

Aid understanding of complex scientific information (including synthesising

information and assisting in communicating the themes of the conference)

Entertain (marvel of skills, enjoy something beautiful, laugh, relax, break up

monotony, affirm and energize delegates)

Provide a rich environment for the delegates to receive information

Showcase the depth and richness of Armidale's community, make the conference

memorable, and boost the profile of ecology in the community.

David Curtis

Coordinator of Art Program

Restore, Regenerate, Revegetate Conference

Ecoarts Australis Inc.

Email: info@ecoartsaustralis.org.au

Mobile: 045 8484 951

4

CONFERENCE IMAGE

The Organising Committee selected a special conference image by acclaimed botanical

artist, David Mackay to symbolise the main themes of the conference.

The image will also provide a lasting memorial of the conference for those participants

who wanted to invest in a special memento.

The image selected (New England Stringybark, Eucalyptus caliginosa) evokes the idea of

ecological restoration through its beautiful rendering of this local species of stringybark.

Botanical artist David Mackay has been drawing plants for over 40 years. His career has

included 16 years as the botanical illustrator at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens and

stints as guest artist at London’s Kew botanic gardens, the University of California at

Berkeley and the Linnean Herbarium in London.

Prints will be available in two sizes:

45 x 60cm — $240 including GST and postage

60 x 90cm — $395 including GST and postage

DAVID MACKAY

New England Stringybark, Eucalyptus caliginosa

Print on paper, 45 x 60 cm.

,

5

CONFERENCE OPENING: GOD’S DRAWING BOARD

Monday 6 February, 9.00am

God’s Drawing Board is an oratorio that was commissioned by the Armidale community

and it had it’s world premiere in Armidale in 2008 with about 170 performers, consisting

of orchestra, children’s choir, adult choir, dance company, actors and soloists. It was

written by acclaimed UK author and illustrator Ralph Steadman, and acclaimed

Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin. It celebrates the planet’s wonderful

biodiversity, decries its destruction through climate change and war, and ultimately

celebrates our community’s efforts to protect and restore our natural environments.

In part it celebrated the wonderful work done on the New England by the community in

restoring ecological communities in the wake of dieback. It did this by celebrating the

work of two incredible New England tree planters — Mike O’Keeffe and Mark

Sandstrom — who worked tirelessly for the Armidale Tree Group (Mike) and Greening

Australia in Dorrigo (Mark) before their premature deaths. The key to the oratorio is the

power of individuals — local action (here tree planting as the rain begins to fall) becomes

a metaphor for regeneration — environmentally as well as socially and spiritually.

Five excepts of the full work will be performed:

Birth of Life,

The City’s Poisonous Vapours,

Death of the Woodlands

Regeneration of the Woodlands

Dawn Chorus

Choreography: Melissa Killen

Musical Direction: Melita Roache

Film: Sarah Watson

Dancers: Soloists — Melissa Killen, Hamish Creighton, Robbie Curtis, Duncan

Carmichael, Hamish McPhie, Georgia Seymour, Deepka Ratra, Isabella Taylor, Dakotah

Love, Stephen Quinlan Jnr, Isaac Clark.

Ensemble — Xanthe Barratt, Isabella Moore, Lauren Boundy, Micah Scholes-Robertson,

Harry Lye, Aiden O’Keefe, Scott McGann Anthony Carlon

Musicians: Kristal Spreadborough, Lilly Baber, Kirrily Baber, Lewis Baber, Stephen

Tafra, Chris Ramazani, Thomas Frazier, Emma Scott

Vocalists: Duncan Carmichael, Amy Roff, Hamish McPhee, Grace Toakley

6

The original production of God’s Drawing Board, December 2008 featuring the choreography of Melissa

Killen and Penny Gurner. Photograph: Jim Vicars.

7

WELCOME RECEPTION WITH

ARMIDALE HIGH SCHOOL AND DUVAL HIGH SCHOOL The Eco-vaudeville circus: a journey into environmental

consciousness Sunday 5 Feb, 6.00-7.00pm

Central Courtyard

Ecodrama can be defined as theatre that explores the reciprocal connection between

humans and the more-than-human world. It describes works with environmental themes,

that attempt to raise consciousness and inspire change; it also explores ‘sense of place’,

identity and community. Using the University grounds as our performance space and

incorporating aspects of the living stage created by eco-scenographer Tanja Beer as part

of the Ephemera project at the Black Gully Music Festival, they will present an ecodrama

which engages students from two local High Schools. The students have been involved in

devising a piece of theatre that encourages audience members to gain a greater

understanding of environmental issues.

Theatre and music create an immersive and experiential performance. The style is

vaudeville, and the audience are invited to enter on a journey into ‘The Environment’,

which is presented as a pristine

and precious commodity. The

themes explored include: our

connection with the natural world;

climate change; water security;

human impacts on the

environment and our individual

and collective responsibility.

The students were directed by

Camille Dunsford (Armidale HS),

Caitlin Walsh (Duval HS) and

Julie Collins (Univ. of New

England).

8

EPHENSTEPHEN GUITAR DUO

PERFORMANCE AT BBQ

Monday 7 Feb, 7.00-9.00pm

Central Courtyard

EPHENSTEPHEN is an Australian classical guitar duo from Armidale. Comprising

multi-instrumentalist/guitar teacher Stephen Tafra and guitarist/composer Steve

Thorneycroft, EphenStephen are a duo committed to exploring both inventive and

established repertoire and who boast a diverse history of projects ranging from new

music commissions to ground breaking transcriptions of classic works.

EphenStephen have recorded two CDs to date, GUITARmidale – featuring music written

by Armidale composers, and their own arrangement of Bach’s ‘Goldberg’ Variations.

https://ephenstephen.com/24-2/

9

CONFERENCE DINNER WITH THE BOPCATZ

Tuesday 7 Feb, 6.00-10.00pm

Echidna Gully

The BopCatz are Carol Elder (potent vocals), Steve Thorneycroft (archival guitars),

Sarah Thorneycroft (humming bass) and Steve Harris (righteous drums), and they have

been speaking with Elvis, Carlos and the Bandidos, The Shadows, Robert Plant and

Alison Krauss, The Stray Cats and Imelda May, and are bringing the wild word of hip

bop song to a room near you. Combining many years experience as performing

musicians, The BopCatz respect tradition but also prize innovation, channelling the spirit

of the originals and pioneers, but also seeking out the new flavours and forms – a dash of

swamp gothic, mudcountry blues and voodoo groove.

http://thebopcatz.com/?page_id=2

10

INSTALLATION OF FABRIC ARTWORKS

Large Education Lecture Theatre

Throughout the conference

Local printmaker Cat MacGregor has been invited to exhibit her fabrics with native plant

themes in the main plenary lecture theatre. These fabrics are optimistic about our

beautiful natural environment and show a joie de vivre. Pre-mixed colours are applied in

transparent form allowing them show through one another and mix on the fabric.

Messiness and random mistakes are encouraged as the Australian bush is not a tidy place.

This work is for sale. If you are interested in purchasing any of the work you should do

so through the Artist’s Table (see below). The fabrics are 100% cotton and a medium

weight, which makes them good for clothing and lightweight furnishings. They are

145cm wide, fully machine washable and sell for $60 per metre.

Teatowels with similar imagery are also available for sale for $28 each.

Cat MacGregor majored in relief printing at Alexander Mackie CAE, Sydney, in 1981

and has been dabbling in art ever since. In 1984 she moved to Walcha and was kept busy

rearing children and helping to run a farm partnership for 3 decades. This partnership

oversaw the planting of around

80,000 trees from the late

1980’s. In recent years she has

developed a sustained art

practice producing drawings,

prints on paper and printed

fabrics.

For inspiration Cat turns to

local landscapes, often to reflect

her inner landscape. She has

spent a lot of time tramping

paths at Dangars Gorge and,

when dog-sitting, turns to the

pine forest in Armidale.

Cat has exhibited in group

shows in Armidale at Gallery

126, Armidale Art Gallery,

NERAM and the Museum of

Printing and in Uralla at The

Uralla Print Gallery. She has

had a solo show in 2012 at the

Walcha Gallery of Art.

11

Dave Eddy: Festival of Delusion — (Nova-anglica)

Armidale Tree Group public forum

Armidale Town Hall, Wed 8 Feb, 8.30-9.30pm

Closing Ceremony

Thursday 9 Feb, 4.15pm

Festival of Delusion is a new music and digital art project from Armidale musician and

composer, Dave Eddy. Based in the New England region of NSW, Dave has been

experimenting with musical styles and forms for over twenty years, as both guitar player

and composer, in between playing with a variety of bands from the New England and

northwest regions, including local acts UNIT, Jughaid and Mudbucket, and teaching rock

styles of playing electric guitar to young musicians.

In 2015, Dave added digital visuals to his solo performances, which are built up around

the improvised playing of his original compositions. The sounds and techniques of Rock,

Jazz, Electronica and other musical styles come together with digitally projected visuals

triggered by Dave as he plays.

Musically, Dave mashes, references, adapts and re-interprets the sounds we are all

familiar with channeled through the guitar and laptop and then filling out the show with

visuals. Dave’s sets can range through deconstructions of rock classics such as Led

Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’, the use of machinima created from computer games,

the appropriation of material broadcast via the internet, reterritorializations of jazz

standards such as playing ‘Giant Steps’ backwards, or hypnotic soundscapes with echoes

of Miles Davis, Hendrix and John Coltrane. Sometimes the familiar seems strange and

the strange seems familiar in Dave Eddy’s Festival of Delusion.

Dave’s works embrace computer based music making technologies, VJ-ing software and

hardware but always with the sound of the electric guitar at the heart of his pieces. His

work has recently entered a new phase under the banner of Festival of Delusion with two

new works presented in Armidale in 2015 in collaboration with Social Ventures Media,

supported by Black Dot Music’s music showcase event — The Red Rug Sessions.

In 2016 Dave has set out to place his compositions and their performance into new

contexts - conferences, galleries, festivals and community events and has even extended

to composing soundtracks and soundscapes.

Nova Anglica

2016 began with a new suite of work for the 2nd EcoArts Australis conference held in

Wollongong, Nova Anglica. In this work Dave explores and interprets a range of ideas

related to the landscapes and environment of his home territory, New England. Having

been a student of philosophy, Dave’s work is inevitably underpinned by questioning

12

creative and social orthodoxies — how do we experience and interact with landscape and

environment in this post-settlement era and how can art, particularly music, interrogate or

express these ideas?

Nova Anglica is inspired by thinking about the rural, urban and wilderness landscapes

and ecologies of New England and how they map out the pre and post settlement

histories of habitation and landuse: from agriculture, grazing, mining, settlement and

habitation as well as some of the negative consequences like contamination, degradation

through to the positive — restoration and rehabilitation.

Another dimension to the project is local community input, providing most of the the

photos and video used in the show. Contributions have come from Southern New

England Landcare, Laszlo Szabo and Sue Fell, Starfish Initiatives Network, Michael

Taylor of “The Hill”, Kentucky (NSW), Beth O’Loughlan and David Waugh.

Nova Anglica is the third collaboration between Festival of Delusion and Social

Ventures Media, who have provided creative consultancy, technical support, equipment

and professional services.

13

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

The conference has invited the artist Leah MacKinnon to act as artist in residence at the

conference. Her art specialises in art that engages with ecological themes.

Funding for the Artist in Residence was provided by ‘Inspiring Australia” through the

New England and North West Regional Science Hub. Leah will show how art can

provide alternative ways of looking at ecology through exploring complex communities.

CONFERENCE CUPS

Rachel Lawrence, a local potter, PhD candidate and also presenter at the conference, will

have handmade ceramic cups for sale. The cups will have some element that relates to

grassland ecology, be it native grass motifs, a glaze composed of plant ashes obtained

from local grassland plants, or using local clay that has come from the creek-bed of one

of the revegetation plantings that will be visited as part of the conference — or a

combination of all three. A limited number of cups will be available for sale at the

conference for $22 each.

14

DAZED BY DIEBACK COMIC LAUNCH

Dazed by Dieback by ecologist David Curtis tells the story of New England Dieback and

the efforts of scientists and farmers to reverse it. It is a humorous tale charting the

explorations of its unlikely heroes Barry, Fay and Warren Streuth, as they uncover the

causes of dieback and what can be done to reverse it. Whilst set in the New England, it

has relevance to all agricultural regions of Australia where rural dieback is prevalent.

The comic will have a dual launch. On Friday 3rd February an exhibition of the original

artworks will be launched by acclaimed New England artist Angus Nivison at the

Armidale Tree Group Michael O’Keeffe Woodland Education Centre in 80 Mann Street

at 6.00pm.

On Monday 6th February the comic will have its scientific launch at the conference

barbeque by Professor Nick Reid.

15

ARTISTS TABLE Lazenby Hall

For duration of conference

Artworks and artefacts that have themes consistent with the conference will

be for sale at the Artists Table. These include:

Conference Image by David Mackay

Conference mugs by Rachel Lawrence

Printed fabrics and tea towels by Cat Macgregor

Dazed by Dieback comic by David Curtis

16

ART GALLERY TOUR

Several of Armidale’s art galleries and museums will have exhibitions with

an ecological theme during the conference. Delegates and/or their partners

may like to visit some or all of these while they are in Armidale.

Armidale Tree Group Woodland Centre 80 Mann Street

Opening Hours Tue-Fri 9.00am-5.00pm; Sat 9.00am-3.30pm

http://armidaletreegroup.org.au

Woodland education centre featuring artworks and displays on woodland ecology.

Exhibition of Dazed by Dieback comic.

Gallery 126 126 Jessie Street

http://www.gallery126.com.au

Exhibitions and art for sale from a wide range of local artists, many on ecological and

botanical themes, including: Anna Curtis (ecological lino prints), David Mackay

(botanical prints), Gerhard Körtner (wildlife drawings & prints) Pierette Romandi (fauna

& flora subject artworks), plus landscape artists including Stuart Boggs, Anna

Henderson, Robyn Jackson & Rosalie Rigby.

Armidale Art Gallery 168 Beardy St, upstairs in the central mall. See what's on at www.armidaleartgallery.com

and facebook.

Open weekdays 10am to 4pm and Saturdays 10am to 12:30 pm.

Exhibitions and art for sale for wide range of local artists and photographers, many of

which connect to the local environment. Dedicated to stimulating and supporting the

creativity of the New England's regional arts community, the Armidale Art Gallery hosts

a wide range of exhibits, showcasing original paintings, drawings, photography, prints,

textiles, sculpture, pottery and jewellery.

Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place Kentucky Street

http://www.acckp.com.au

Opening Hours Mon-Fri 9.00am-4.00pm; Sat 10am-4.00pm

Community based gallery, displaying a diversity of Australian Indigenous arts and

culture. Includes art gallery and a well stocked shop selling artworks, didgeridoos,

artefacts and clothes.

17

New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) and exhibition ‘Bush to

Bay: Hinton and the artist’s camp’ Kentucky Street

Opening Hours Tue-Sun 10.00am-4.00pm

http://www.neram.com.au/about-us/

The new exhibition at NERAM, Bush to Bay: Hinton and the artist’s camp, presents

new works created by New England based artists in response to Sydney’s artist camps of

the nineteenth century and iconic works which depict them.

The exhibition has been developed for the New England Regional Art Museum

(NERAM) by guest curator Sandra McMahon and includes works by Angus Nivison,

Gabrielle Collins, Elouise Roberts and Michelle Hungerford alongside paintings by

Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Julian Ashton and A. Henry Fulwood.

Encouraged by the public enthusiasm for plein-air painting in the 1880s and 90s, artist

camps flourished around Sydney Harbour, mainly in the Mosman area (then known as

Mossman’s Bay). One of the best known was the Curlew Camp on Little Sirius Cove

(beneath present day Taronga Zoo) where Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton painted some

of their most spectacular images of Sydney Harbour.

The young Howard Hinton arrived in Sydney in the late nineteenth century and spent a

lot of time staying in the artist’s camps around Cremorne and present day Mosman where

he met artists such as Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Julian Ashton. The paintings by

these artists that he collected and donated to the Armidale Teachers College are some of

the finest works in the Howard Hinton Collection such as Tom Robert’s iconic painting

Mosman’s Bay.

The artist’s camps were a place where likeminded artists could converse and create,

inspired by their surroundings they ate, drank, talked, argued and constructed paintings

that have become some of the most significant examples of landscape painting in

Australian art. The camp sites were located on a very picturesque part of the harbour

foreshore, so it is not surprising that the colours and the strong light of a perfect Sydney

day inspired such extraordinary works.”

The tranquil setting that Roberts gazed upon is now a very busy and bustling place and

the addition of high rise apartments, parking lots and new wharf made it hard to establish

a reference point for the original paintings, the only building still remaining is the

sandstone Whaler’s Building which Roberts depicts in his painting Mosman’s Bay.

In 2015 the artists Angus Nivison, Gabrielle Collins, Elouise Roberts and Michelle

Hungerford travelled to Sydney with guest curator Sandra McMahon to visit the artist

camps sites in Mosman and Cremorne, stay on the Harbour at Cockatoo Island and

explore the archives at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Library.

Painter Angus Nivison has been exhibiting regularly since the 1970s and has works in

18

major public and private collections around Australia. He won the Wynne Prize in 2002

and the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award in 2011. Angus resides and paints in his studio

on a property in the artistic hub of Walcha and exhibits regularly with Utopia Art Sydney.

Armidale based artist Elouise Roberts studied in Newcastle and Melbourne and has

worked in painting and textile design, being involved with exhibitions in Armidale,

Newcastle and Maitland.

Painter Gabrielle Collins has been creating and teaching art across the New England

region having held exhibitions in Tamworth, Walcha, Armidale and Moree as well as

with Damien Minton Gallery in Sydney.

Tamworth based artist Michelle Hungerford has exhibited her work around Australia and

in the UK and has been a finalist in numerous awards including the Gallipoli Art Prize

(2015), the Country Energy Art Prize (2007-9) and the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award

(2011). Her works are also held in a number of private and public collections.

The exhibition will be on display at New England Regional Art Museum until Sunday 19

March 2017. The exhibition is being presented with support from the Friends of NERAM

Inc. The New England Regional Art Museum opened in 1983 to house The Howard

Hinton Collection and The Chandler Coventry Collection in the grounds of the former

Armidale Teacher’s College. Today NERAM’s nationally significant collections of over

5000 works of art form the basis of the gallery’s programs. Visitors to NERAM can enjoy

changing art exhibitions and other art activities, see the Museum of Printing, Studio 52

café and the Museum Shop. For more information: http://www.neram.com.au

Walcha’s Open Air Gallery of sculptures and artworks http://walchansw.com.au/art-in-walcha/

At the suggestion of the Walcha Arts Council, Walcha Council has adopted the concept

of developing Walcha as an Open Air Gallery. The decision was taken for a number of

reasons, not least of all to develop Walcha’s distinctiveness, to provide an additional

dimension to the quality of life of our community and to provide a source of expression

for our very talented local artists.

There are 41 pieces of art scattered around the town which have been created by local,

national and international artisans. Most of the works have been created using local

timbers, numerous pieces forming seats for taking in the ambiance of the great vistas

around town.

19

New England Regional Art Museum

Kentucky Street

Gallery 126

126 Jessie

Street

Armidale Art Gallery

168 Beardy Street

Armidale Mall

Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping

Place

Kentucky Street

Armidale Tree Group

Woodland Centre

80 Mann Street