‘Habitus – Habitat’
The idea of environmental sustainability has never been more contested in Australia than in the present economic climate. While Gunns pulp mill proposal in Tasmania’s scenic Tamar Valley is dividing opinion within and outside that state, similar contested situations will no doubt face other parts of the country over the next twelve months. Simply put, to what extent do jobs count, at the moment, over maintaining cultural and spiritual connections with the land for the well-being of future generations? The conundrum is huge.
With this at the back of my mind, I traveled to Noosa Regional Gallery to see the first manifestation of ‘Habitus-Habitat’, an exhibition and associated program forming part of the ‘great! walks: art and environment’ project of the Queensland Government’s Environmental Protection Agency. I had read about it in Update, a publication of Museums and Gallery Services Queensland who instigated and is touring the exhibition.1 It sounded enlightened; a sort of public art project that closed the gap between art and tourism, amateur and professional art practitioners, and centre and periphery. In short it was conceptually savvy and socially aware.
Beth Jackson, curator of ‘Habitus-Habitat’, selected eight principal commissioned artists to guide workshops and masterclasses in the chosen regional areas. They are practitioners who work across a range of media and so the show at Tewantin included video (with one large-scale projection), photography, assemblage, painting, artist’s books and collage. Craig Walsh, Elizabeth Woods, Fiona Foley, Jill Chism, Brian Robinson, Shane Fitzgerald, Glen Skein and Marian Drew are represented. They were intentionally linked with areas for which they have particular affinity and with art institutions of the area. Therefore, Craig Walsh was supported by Gold Coast