Green art event to inspire conversation

Biennial Sunshine Coast art event to be held from 27 May until 5 June

Floating Land, a multi-arts event featuring local and international artists, will be held at the central site of Boreen Point of Lake Cootharaba and will explore this year’s theme of Water Culture. The aim of the event is to create an ongoing conversation about art and the environment, around the theme of Water Culture and how it impacts our lives. Boreen Point in the UNESCO-listed Noosa Biosphere region will be the central site, with secondary locations at the Coolum Boardwalk and Cooroy Butter Factory.

This year, Floating Land will expand from its traditional elements to incorporate ephemeral art, light and sound performances and installations, as well as social media, to engage the digital community. Floating land guest curator Leah Barclay, a multi-award winning Australian artist, said that the "Water Culture theme resonated strongly with the community, after the natural disasters experienced in early 2011. The natural disasters experienced in 2011 are a horrific reminder that climate change is a reality. Floating Land offers a platform for creative responses, provocations and interactive experiences that can underpin new ways of thinking and inspire change.”

Examples of displayed works are Dr Ros Bandt;s Blue Gold, a multi-media performance installation exploring the balance between wet and dry in the natural landscape and Lyndon Davis’s multi-sensory installation relating to indigenous knowledge of water systems.

Ms Barclay said that the program’s aim was to inspire solutions to challenge water issues. “The diverse creative responses are embedded in a program of community workshops, forums and interactive labs designed to confront and challenge a spectrum of water issues across disciplines. The intention is not just to deliver engaging experiences for the local community, but also to harness the energy of these conversations, ideas and visions across virtual platforms exploring new paradigms for out collective future.”