Over 3 days this April, 120 artists will explore takayna / Tarkine, immersing themselves in the wilderness to create unique works of art - paintings, photographs, films, song, drawings and more - to share with the world.

With your help, artists will return to the forests, coasts, mountains and rivers to document the beauty, fragility and urgent need for protection of takayna / Tarkine.

There is still so much more to be revealed about this vast landscape.

Tasmania’s takayna / Tarkine is a 450 000 hectare mosaic of ecosystems, under threat from mining, logging and off-road vehicle damage.

Over the last two years, Tarkine in Motion has brought enormous success to the campaign to protect this wild place. Using images from Tarkine in Motion, our Foundation has published two books. Tarkine Trails, a bushwalking guide, and takayna - a beautiful book about the living Aboriginal cultural connection to this place. A documentary, concert, federal election poster campaign and exhibitions in Burnie, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane have showcased the beautiful works from the project and highlighted the need for protection of this threatened landscape.

With your help, our Foundation and the contributing artists will achieve a new body of work and campaign materials for our burgeoning campaign for protection.

takayna / Tarkine has Australia’s largest temperate rainforest, an array of pristine streams, ancient mountains and one of the world’s wildest coastlines. One of the last, great wild places on Earth, it is an essential stronghold for rare and endangered creatures. Bob Brown Foundation is campaigning for National Park and World Heritage listing and return to Aboriginal ownership of takayna / Tarkine.

More than 120 artists and volunteer organisers are donating their time and skills, spending 4 days in remote takayna / Tarkine. Our team of volunteers are managing logistics, cooking food, guiding and supporting artists in the field.

Bob Brown Foundation is fundraising to support the artists and volunteers on location in takayna / Tarkine. Costs include accommodation, base camp materials such as tarps, water containers, maps and other equipment, and food. This is a huge undertaking which could not succeed without your support.

 If you would like to support us, please head over to the Tarkine in Motion 2017 Pozible campaign and make a pledge.

Last year my partner Steven and I had the opportunity through the Bob Brown Foundation to experience a part of Australia that we had not ventured to previously or known vey much about.

 It was a grey overcast day when we arrived at Arthur River, stopping to experience the isolation at Tasmania’s ‘Edge of the World’, here on the west coast. It is an isolated place where the river meets the sea and rocky outcrops add to the intensity.  The roaring forties and volcanic activity have carved out a dramatic landscape here!  The wind is howling as we go for a walk, shifting sands on the fragile sand dunes. While it may seem like a harsh place to live, the large middens or piles of shells, stone tools and ancient campfire sites that lie scattered along the western shoreline is testament that this was home to indigenous Australians. They feasted off the seas and lived off the forests for thousands of years and yet within mere decades ‘our way of life’ has left an indelible mark.

 The controversy about 4-wheel driving on fragile landscapes and in areas of cultural heritage is a topic of diverse opinion. Balancing the recreational rights of Australians with the preservation of historic cultural sites was taken to the courts. The Federal Courts ruled that 4WD tracks along the Tarkine coast that damage indigenous cultural sites must remain closed but it is challenging to police this ruling in remote locations and there are many people who still do not care. When we have such a large country to enjoy, it is hard to imagine that we are still fighting to preserve places that are of spiritual and cultural significance to the first Australians.

 It is hard not to notice the piles of logs that are washed up along the banks of the river or lie along the ocean shoreline, a common sight in Tasmania. Once Europeans arrived, the area was exploited for its timber and hydro dams also submerged entire forests. The forest waste we see reminds us that we also place little economic value on that which we did note have to cultivate ourselves. While driving north along the west coast it was startling to see that the fires had come within a few metres of the homes at the communities of places like Nelson Bay and Couta Rocks. Connecting the dots between the lightning storms, which were rarely experienced in the past and the impacts of ‘our way of life’ is also not automatically obvious.

 Life was back to normal in the hamlets we passed through but the scars on the landscape will remain for quite awhile.

 It is time to preserve these precious landscapes and do our bit to raise awareness about them.

Nilmini De Silva

Tarkine in Motion is appearing as a collaborative exhibition in Jugglers Art Space from Friday July 1 to Wednesday July 13 2016.

Johathon Sri & Tasmanian Photographer Arwen Dyer will be opening this Tarkine in Motion exhibition at 6pm on Friday July 1, 2016 - the exhibition will be open 10am - 4pm every day.

The Tarkine in Motion exhibition catalog is shown below.

Emily Sheppard (violin), Anne Norman (shakuhachi. Photo: Daniel Haley

violinist saws
threnody for felled giants
chainsaw joins the tune

Sculpture Park

Who is the master gardener

of this surreal autumnal sculpture park?

In hushed awe, I walk down avenues

strewn in gum and blackwood leaves:

fallen but not deciduous.

.

Timorously treading the soft beige

and copper peppered carpet,

past dark Herculean figures,

my senses reel before gaping jaws

of sinuous black forms;

a fluted baleen whale;

a lunging prehistoric head

with vacant eyes and flaring nostrils.

On every side, dismembered limbs

and languid bodies

recline within a toppled temple

of obsidian obelisks.

.

But the crowning glory

of this eerie sequoia world

are the tall black pedestals

spouting bright green ornamental fountains;

mature tree ferns silently, imperceptibly,

shooting forth their vivid fronds

above curlicue brown skirts.

.

I wander further

into a time-warped wonderland

of fallen gods;

through glades of tangled wiry hoops

and freshly springing bracken.

Suddenly, my feet subside

through scorched red earth

to hidden cavities below,

where combusted roots of gum trees

once held firm.

.

I kneel bewildered, giddy,

beneath a towering giant:

broad, powerful, commanding… mute.

Dwarfing the copper-headed forest,

it’s charred feet give way to pale torso

and white truncated, lifeless limbs,

still reaching for the clouds.

An ancient being;

now awaiting reassignment

in other roles and forms

within the master gardener’s

ever-morphing park.

Jessie Westbury with her violin - standing on Mt Donaldson. Photo: Andy Szollosi

Lots of our artists have submitted photos from the 2016 Tarkine in Motion - some are works of art and some are snapshots around the campsites.

A selection of the photos are shown here, and more will be added as artists finish their work and send photos in.

Photo: Tania Slapar-Koman and Sam Fenton

The Tarkine in Motion project has filled me with an array of inspiration, creativity and a ever growing love and connection with our natural environment.  I told my dear friend Sam Fenton about the project and he was more than happy to be part of the experience too!

Sam and I have in the last few years been artistically collaborating , creating textural, 3D and intuitive nature based paintings together..
For Tarkine in Motion we decided to continue to unite our creative forces, packing Sam's tiny car with lots of art supplies and sharing camera gear to capture the places we were amongst.
We spent our Tarkine time in rainforest and river country, first at Corinna with the rivers and waterfalls then deep in the Myrtle Rainforests at Que Road camp with the old trees and breathtaking variety of fungi.   

Photo: Tania Slapar-Koman and Sam Fenton

We set up temporary 'forest' studios where time passed as in a dream, embracing our connected unity with the environment whilst the inspiration flowed through us and onto paper through a range of mediums. We also spent time with the lovely Zennie McGloghlin from Melbourne who also shared with us these magical experiences. We all had so much fun!

Photo: Tania Slapar-Koman and Sam Fenton

Although it was great to easily access the Myrtle rainforests at Que Road the one thing which has felt very bitter sweet for us is the knowledge that the only way we were able to be there was through logging tracks, for in the next few weeks/ months these ancient trees are scheduled to be selectively logged into disarray and a huge loss of bio diversity.  

Photo: Tania Slapar-Koman and Sam Fenton

All in all we have had an amazing experience being part of Tarkine in Motion. Also in meeting many wonderful artists who were part of the adventure, roaming through the forests, mountains, rivers and coasts.  Every time I close my eyes I still see the rich colours and textures of the forest and feel a renewed sense of self...

From deep in our hearts- Thank you Takayna!

Tania Slapar-Koman and Sam Fenton

Photo: Nicole Anderson

Nicole Anderson guided three groups to this magnificent sacred site during Tarkine in Motion 2016.

Photo: Nicole Anderson

This area has had illegal motorbikes go over it in the past. Thankfully they stuck to the tracks while we were there, however my understanding is these tracks are currently closed.

Photo: Nicole Anderson

This is a spectacular midden and stone quarry beset within a powerful coastline. Each group were blessed with beautiful light amongst changeable weather. A truly sacred place deserving of respect, understanding, celebration and protection.

Nicole Anderson

Photo: Nicole Anderson

Photo: Nicole Anderson

Poetry and photos by Nicholas Iceton and Diana Kaminskaya...

Sarah Ann Rocks. Photo: Nicholas Iceton and Diana Kaminskaya

The Tarkine mirrors us our heart beat.
Ancient echoes between microscopic footsteps
Timeless space within creation of life
Genesis place
Eternity of rhythm and security of interconnection
Our cells open to re-nature
We re-member our calling and perceive our place
in the birthplace of mystery.

by Nicholas Iceton

Que Rd. Photo: Nicholas Iceton and Diana Kaminskaya

The whispers of Que by Diana Kaminskaya

A bed of green velvet is laid beyond you
Hold in your breath! Let the time take two
Let eyes see the wonders of all hues of green.
The air is thick and the silence is thin

Step slowly, you'll see, that each layers has keys
to the heart of the being in which you stand free
Sink into the ground, unravel your roots
Your place within space is no longer so true

Each branch is a ladder to cosmos beyond
You walk within worlds of creation of all
Let legends get told through the hushes of wind
Each leaf is a page from the story within

You walk among wisers, so ancient so tall,
They wisper of times in which they were born
Your heart fills with joy beyond measures of all
Remembering treasures of this beautiful world.

Frankland River. Photo: Nicholas Iceton and Diana Kaminskaya

Que Rd. Photo: Nicholas Iceton and Diana Kaminskaya

Photo: Jenny Weber

Phillip England uses a 19th century photographic process known as tintypes or ferrotypes to produce images in the field with his travelling photographic darkroom.

The effect on landscapes and portraits is something old-world, other-world, and sometimes spooky... decide for yourself as you look at some of his work...

Photo: Phillip England

Photo: Phillip England

Photo: Phillip England

Photo: Phillip England

Photo: Phillip England

Photo: Phillip England

Photo: Phillip England

Phillip England. Photo: Paul Hoelen

For more information on what Phillip does and how he does it, take a look at his website: www.tasmaniantintype.com