The ephemeral beauty of sustainable art comes together for a few brief days on North Stradbroke Island in the LINES in the SAND Arts Festival 27 – 30 June, 2012. This unique event will be launched in Brisbane on World Environment Day, Tuesday 5 June, at the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Art. Invited guests will preview the festival highlights illustrating the festival’s key messages about the primacy of art, environment and sustainable tourism. In an exciting first, the inaugural LINES in the SAND publication Culture + Country/Art + Ecology, documenting the history and breath-taking imagery of this ephemeral contemporary arts festival, will also be launched.
Ephemeral arts festival merges creativity, culture and sustainable tourism LINES in the SAND is a four day contemporary arts festival held each year on North Stradbroke Island. It includes artists’ residencies, ephemeral arts installations, nature based art workshops, new media performances and projection, arts and environment forum and other spontaneous happenings – largely within the south gorge precinct of beautiful North Stradbroke Island.
The festival was developed by Stradbroke Island local Jo Kaspari, and is predicated around bringing together arts, culture and sustainable nature based tourism on North Stradbroke Island. She said, “The inaugural festival happened at a time of great change on the island, with Native Title determinations and land mark decisions about national parks. LINES in the SAND works within a nature based tourism framework, one that respects and values the ecological and cultural integrity of the island.”
The LINES in the SAND publication Culture + Country/Art + Ecology traces, in words and images, the festival’s vital contribution to date. Auntie Joan Hendriks wrote, “LINES in the SAND is based on making art from nature as well as new media. We welcome the creation of ephemeral art works using natural materials such as reeds, sticks, feathers, sand, shells, leaves and bark. We appreciate how LINES in the SAND engages with our own Aboriginal traditions of painting and weaving, and also with island families.”
The 2012 Festival program includes another spectacular film projection by Lucy Trippett on the ancient rocky face of south gorge, a colossal gnarled cliff that meets a sheltered sliver of beach. It was an unforgettable evening at the Island’s south gorge in June 2011 when the natural beauty of the rugged cliff face was transformed and extended by Lucy’s digital projection, overlaying the rocks with images of darting fish, and vibrantly coloured coral. It was a rare open-air experience in which underwater imagery meshed with the sand and the gorge, viewed from the opposite rocky ridge by an audience who watched and listened in silent awe.
Other events include Quandamooka traditional owner Craig Tapp’s sand ochre workshops at which he will assist children to tell their own stories through lines in the sand. And nature based art workshops will discuss compelling issues within this unique synergy. Yet arguably the best thing about LINES IN THE SAND is that it enables others to join in the co-creating of art works and indeed co-authorship of the event. This year I will produce a live blog to be updated daily on the development and install period, and the LINES IN THE SAND social media sites will instantly narrate the events as they unfold.
Mark your diary now to visit North Stradbroke Island for the LINES in the SAND Arts Festival from Wednesday 27 to Saturday 30 June. The full program is listed at http://www.linesinthesand.com.au/whats-on/. Follow us on twitter and instagram.
The publication is supported by Queensland Government it is available for free download online at linesinthesand.com.au/about/.