Hello <<First Name>>
By now, I'd usually be feeling the shift of season—a slow down as the days get warmer. Summer is late arriving in Central West NSW and we haven't had the stinking hot days we might have had by now. What we have had over recent months is flooding rain. So many of our regional communities are still impacted by flooding, in some cases, entire towns have been devastated and it's hard to envisage how they'll rebuild. What these weather events seem to have done, that no drought has quite managed despite their severity, is put climate change back on the political agenda. Governments of all levels are having to now consider how to fund extensive recovery, and plan for future events, all the while knowing the next fire or drought is around the corner.
So many of this year's ecoPULSE.art projects have addressed the impact of a rapidly changing climate on our landscapes, communities, and ourselves, as individuals. This week, I was asked in a recorded online interview for Regional Futures where I have 'landed' in terms of my thoughts on the future and climate change, and what role my work plays in that conversation. Personally, I'm mostly hopeful most days, but there's much work to be done. As for the role of art? I believe, as artists, we have a powerful role to play in poking, prodding, prompting actions—individually and collectively. We have the power to imagine and project, and if the reflection isn't to your liking, do something about it.
Below is a stocktake of this year's projects and collaborations. A big thank you to all who make 2022 the year it was, and to all our supporters, who either watch quietly from the sidelines or turn up in person to be part of the conversation. We wish you all the very best for the season and look forward to sharing more with you in 2023.
Kim V. Goldsmith
Founder, ecoPULSE.art
Mosses + Marshes
In its third year as a truly international project, 2022 saw the Australian MOSSES AND MARSHES exhibitions and public programming kick off with a showing in Canberra in April, an installation in Coonamble in May, and another at the Window on the Wetlands Centre at Warren in July. These last two shows saw the works return to their 'home territories'—the places that inspired the works. As well as the exhibitions, there were two artist talks and a sound walk at the Tiger Bay Wetland in Warren. The planned Macquarie Marshes sound walk was postponed due to flooding, along with hopes it may have run later in 2022.
The public programming for MOSSES AND MARSHES was supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW. Big thanks to my MOSSES AND MARSHES collaborator, Andrew Howe (UK), and those venues who supported the exhibitions and public programming—M16 Artspace, Outback Arts, and RiverSmart.
PROJECT DETAILS I SAMPLE WORKS
Long-time champion of the Marshes, Terry Korn opening MOSSES AND MARSHES in Canberra at M16, April 2022
Inhalare/ breathe upon
This year's Stage 2 of the Inhalare/ breathe upon project saw a series of visual artworks developed in response to six soundscapes and texts created in late 2021 (Stage 1). The works created for Inhalare were about celebrating natural environments in our backyards that we'd come to know well during lockdowns or times of restricted movement. Stage 3 was the exhibition of the works together in one space, with a suite of accessibility elements providing multiple connection points to the works while they were showing at SPACE—a disabled-run, social enterprise gallery in Coonabarabran. There were 12 artists involved in this project over a 9-month period, from across NSW, showcasing 6 natural environments.
Thanks to supporters of this project—Orana Arts, SPACE, Allison Reynolds, Warrumbungle Shire Council, Accessible Arts, Destination Country and Outback, Create NSW, and Regional Arts NSW (Regional Arts Fund, Australian Government).
PROJECT DETAILS
Executive Director of Orana Arts, Alicia Leggett at the opening of Inhalare/ breathe upon in May 2022, using the accessibility elements of the exhibition in SPACE—an mp3 player of audio descriptions and tactile elements (Amanda Donohue's textile work)
Sonic Territories: Wambuul
This river stories project covered an area from Wellington to Narromine, or 170km of the Wambuul Macquarie River from Burrendong Dam to just below Narromine. There were four of us on the creative team, all local to the area and with different perspectives and experiences to contribute. Stage 1 was about getting this project off the ground. We did that in a big way, producing Wambuul bila, a 15-minute composition of field recordings, sounds, and spoken word, that was released online on World Rivers Day on 25 September and performed live in front of an audience in Dubbo in late October. We also collected a small number of audio stories from the community to start a story map for the project, along with archival material that sits around these recollections. The other public element of the project was the Wambuul Soundwalk in August, along Biddybungie Reserve in West Dubbo. It's hoped Stage 2 might get underway next year, with further collaborations and more community stories.
Thanks to Orana Arts and Create NSW for helping fund the project through the Country Arts Support Program (CASP). Additional funding came from fundraising through the Australian Cultural Fund. And to Milena Sallustio, Suzie Foran, and Rob Salt for being such willing collaborators.
PROJECT DETAILS I WAMBUUL BILA
Sonic Territories: Wambuul artist, Rob Salt reading in front of an audience at the Outback Writers' Centre's Originals Only Afternoon at the Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo
Regional Futures
While not strictly an ecoPULSE.art project, Kim, along with some of this year's ecoPULSE.art collaborators have been part of the NSW Regional Futures project, an initiative of the Regional Arts Network. Those ecoPULSE.art artists involved in this multi-staged project include Anna Glynn, Allison Reynolds, Andrew Hull and Kim.
Representing Orana Arts, Kim and Allison have been part of a cross-region conversation with two artists from the Arts Mid North Coast region—Kit Kelen and Ronnie Grammatica. The four of them are now preparing for a group showing of their work at the Manning Regional Art Gallery in late March 2023. The artists are also submitting work proposals for Stage 2 of the project, which will include an exhibition and symposium at Casula Powerhouse in Sydney in mid-2023.
REGIONAL FUTURES WEBSITE
Top to bottom, left to right: Kit Kelen (Buladelah), Allison Reynolds (Coonabrabran), Kim V. Goldsmith (Dubbo), and Ronnie Grammatica (Crescent Head) —cross-region collaborators on the Regional Futures project
Thank you to you, ecoPULSE.art supporters
I mentioned this in the SPRING issue, but it's worth repeating...this year, through the Australian Cultural Fund (ACF), $2,105 was raised for ecoPULSE.art projects, thanks to the help of 25 donors. These funds were leveraged in grant applications to successfully raise $38,730 in grants through Create NSW, the Regional Arts Fund, Orana Arts, and a partnership with Dubbo Regional Council, paying out $25,000 in artist fees + $10,000 in project admin to 31 artists and arts workers over 3 projects - Mosses and Marshes, Inhalare/ breathe upon and Sonic Territories: Wambuul. Raising funds to do these projects is a big job, on top of initiating, managing, and creating the art. It's not something any artist wants to do, but it's the only way these projects would be possible. The grants only ever cover basic expenses and all our artists put in far more than they receive in recompense. The public response to these projects has been phenomenal, which is why we'll probably do it again. Your ongoing support of these projects is highly valued and we hope you'll stick with us.
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THE POWER OF SOUND
A 3-month online field recording course is being run through ecoPULSE.art, from November-February. The fully booked course has participants from across eastern Australia and overseas. Another course will run in late 2023 with names being taken for a wait list. COURSE DETAILS
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CYCLIC DEFROST STORY
Journalist, multi-disciplinary artist and ecoPULSE.art collaborator, Jason Richardson caught up with Kim to talk about her background in sound and her practice as a sound artist for Cyclic Defrost. Published 20 November.
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EARTH.FM BLOG INTERVIEW
earth.fm, is an international non-profit, free repository of pure, immersive natural soundscapes that also publishes a blog. Curator, Melissa Pons, interviewed Kim about the concepts underpinning her practice. Published 14 October.
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FOLLOW ecoPULSE
ecoPULSE.art is on Facebook and Instagram. Follow us for updates on all our projects, community events and call outs.
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Let us bring people back into conversatoin with all that is green and growing; a universe that never stopped speaking to us, even when we forgot how to listen.
― ROBIN WALL KIMMERER, BRAIDING SWEETGRASS, 2013
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ecoPULSE.art projects are supported by the artists who make these projects possible, regional arts development organisations, the exhibition venues who provide such great support for the finished works and public events, and funding bodies including the NSW Government through Create NSW, and the Australian Government through initiatives such as the Regional Arts Fund through Regional Arts NSW, and the Australian Cultural Fund.
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We acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which we work across Australia and other First Nations countries, and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
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