Announcement for two workshops by one of MFTW’s inspiring artists, Jacqui Dreessens.
Kayak, Mangroves, Poetry
Do you like kayaking? Ever written poetry? Have you ever seen the mangrove forest on Wadawurrung Country between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove? Come and witness first hand this incredible ecosystem that clears the water and puts oxygen in the air for all of us Beings to breathe. So hardy and yet so fragile. A different World awaits from the Water.
This is Part A of an exciting afternoon/evening: 4pm-6pm. Where the River meets the Sea – Kayak, Mangroves, Poetry
We would like to congratulate one of the Mangroves from the Water artists, Jacqui Dreessens for presenting Echelons: Finding a reference point for culture heritage in a mangrove ecosystem at the 46th World Conference International Council of Traditional Music and Dance.
Jacqui Dreessens, from Wild Moves International, led a fabulously fun interpretive dance and movement workshop in conjunction with her live dance and video performance titled Echelons (2021) at the Mangroves from the Water exhibition. During the official opening day on Saturday 14 Aug, the participants followed her instructions to feel inspired by nature and mangroves to experience, interpret and become at one with nature.
Unfortunately a few participants had to remain in lockdown, but do spot out very own curator Zahidah busting some cool moves!
It’s with great pleasure that we are able to share these images with you from our official opening on Saturday 14 August 2021.
Thanks to the Gordon Gallery, the City of Greater Geelong, Sharjah Institute of Heritage, , the Barwon Estuary Project and Humans of Geelong for their support in realising this show.
The opening began with a Welcome to Wadawurrung Country by Elder Nikki McKenzie, supported by Norm Stanley on the didgeridoo; a ceremony we all acknowledged as befitting the themes and depth of our project and our regard for the mangrove landscape.
We were honoured that Libby Coker MP officially opened the event and we’re grateful for her important words and interest in our project.
Curator Zahidah Zeytoun Millie acknowledged the support of our partners and introduced the work of our 13 artists, all focused on raising awareness of the beauty and importance of mangroves.
To Peter Martin, thank you for presenting the opening oration so eloquently.
The afternoon gave our 50 visitors (we were restricted by Covid 19!) a fascinating range of perspectives that included a human element in addition to the multi media artwork. Choreographic artist Jacqui Dreessens performed a sensorial interpretation of mangroves in dance with video, and Richard Collopy presented a passionate talk on a traditional owner’s perspective of mangroves. Viewers were enthralled by the depth of thought and detail presented in the multi media Mangroves from the Art exhibition.
We are very grateful to everyone who came out to support us, especially during this difficult time with lockdowns. We were sad to miss a few of the artists not being able to attend – some stuck locally (Nicola Cerini and Kerrie Taylor), and some abroad (Geraldine Chansard in Belgium, Stephanie Neville in the UAE and Alexis Gambis in France).
Credit for all images goes to photographer Phil Hines. Our thanks to MC Daniel Zeytoun Millie.
Libby Coker MP, Richard Collopy, Deb Taylor, Zahidah Zeytoun Millie, Helen Martin, Enrico Santucci
Curator Zahidah Zeytoun Millie and Libby Coker MP
Opening address by Rev. Peter Martin
Libby Coker MP
Libby Coker MP
Traditional Didgeridoo
Stephanie Neville
Arabic Majlis
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Richard Collopy
Richard Collopy
Richard Collopy
Richard Collopy
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Nicola Cerini
Nicola Cerini
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Deb Taylor
Deb Taylor
Students of Barwon Heads Primary School
Jacqui Dreessens
Jacqui Dreessens
Jacqui Dreessens
Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
Helen Martin
Helen Martin
Kerrie Taylor
Kerrie Taylor
Curator Zahidah Zeytoun Millie, Dr Russell Kennedy, Richard Collopy
Still from movie by Geraldine Chansard and Pauline Dupin, and Kerri Taylor sculptures in foreground
‘Mangroves from the Water’ is a group multimedia art exhibition that would have been opening today in Geelong, Australia, to celebrate the Mangroves Day 26 July, https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/mangroveday.
Due to the Corona virus pandemic the exhibition has been postponed to 26 July, 2021.
In celebration of the upcoming Mangroves Day, ‘Mangroves from the Water’ committed International artist Stephanie Neville has designed our poster.
In collaboration with the Mangroves Fosters Community, Ocean Tree Studio (Maya Greven) in Florida who have designed a poster for the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem.
Mangroves from the Water artists and quest speakers are artists are:
Alexis Gambis, Nicola Cerini, Enrico Santucci, Deb Taylor, Richard Collopy, Jacqui Dreessens, Geraldine Chansard, Helen and Peter Martin, Malcolm Gardiner, scientist Oskar Serrano and Zahidah Zeytoun Millie
We are all excited to share this special day with fellow international eco-warriors passionate about the preservation of the mangroves!
Here is the schedule of talks, events and performances during our exhibition:
Mangroves from the water
Gordon Gallery, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
26 July – 15 August
The exhibition will provide viewers with a range of media to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. The artists also hope to see discussions occurring throughout the exhibition in a series of colloquia.
The artists are:
Alexis Gambis, Nicola Cerini, Enrico Santucci, Deb Taylor, Richard Collopy, Jacqui Dreessens, Stephanie Neville, Geraldine Chansard, Peter & Helen Martin, and Zahidah Zeytoun Millie.
The exhibition event will open on International Mangroves Day, 26 July, and end on 15 August 2020 during National Science Week (15-23 August). Workshops on weaving, printing and painting will run during the multimedia exhibition and guest speakers will present related talks on mangroves and the Barwon region.
Guestspeakers:
Date/Time
Guest Speaker
Location
Title
15 Aug,
1000-1100
Oskar Serrano
Deakin University
Coastal wetlands as weapons for climate change mitigation and time capsules of the human past
It is always interesting to know how artists/performers derive at their final works. We thank Jacqui for giving us a glimpse into her creative process, translating the inspiration from the natural mangrove environment by using images and words and ultimately transforming it into a physical dance performance.
Jacqui in the mangroves
Writing poetry about the Ecology of Place is vital for Jacqui’s dance making process. To begin to describe her sense of place, Jacqui uses verbs, adverbs, adjectives and alliteration.
Breathe Upwards Rooted Down MuddyWaters Clear Skies Alive
This helps to unpack her experience from being in and amongst the mangroves while floating in a kayak. These words become the launching pad for movement improvisations in the dance studio.
Jacqui develops the bodily shapes and movement transitions based on the mangroves, expressing her sensory experiences and memories through the physical bodily form.
For more information, please do visit and follow her on:
Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) 