Platform Arts has kicked off its 2024 season, launching its first themed program last weekend.
CURRENTS, which opened on February 10 and runs till March 15, features the work of 15 contemporary artists examining water, the central substance for life on Earth.
Platform Arts curator Amber Smith said the exhibition invited both artists and audiences to reflect on their relationship with water, a critical issue given the change our climate was undergoing.
“CURRENTS is both an artistic endeavour and a call to action; unravelling our reliance on, and reverence of, water, by delving into the issues surrounding water scarcity, security, and climate change,” Ms Smith said.
“CURRENTS presents important and stirring works that bring the importance of water conservation and protection to the forefront.”
The artists themselves form a diverse group, including Sydney-based Samoan and Australian artist Angela Tiatia, who was awarded the Ian Potter Moving Image Commission in 2022 to produce the highly acclaimed work Dark Currents.
Local collective Ocean LAB, consisting of marine scientist Dr Prue Francis, sound artist Vicki Hallett and arts academic Dr Fiona Hillary, present Wrack Entanglements, a work drawing on the intersection of art and science to explore the seaweed biodiversity of Australia’s Great Southern Reef.
“Wrack is the organic debris deposited onto beaches from tides, winds and waves,” Dr Francis explained.
“The wrack along the Great Southern Reef coastline hosts a diverse range of seaweeds, which are marine alga and provide oxygen, food and habitat to life underwater.
“Utilising fieldwork equipment, Ocean LAB transforms the species of the wrack into an abstracted series of sounds and imagery, inviting the community to experience the hidden wonders of the wrack zone; a world often imperceptible to our human senses.”
Visit platformarts.org.au for more information.
