Tag: mangrove trees

Invitation to Experience ‘Mangroves from the Water’ Exhibition

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 Invitation to Experience ‘Mangroves from the Water’ Exhibition

Discover the hidden beauty of mangroves through a 360-degree immersive film experience and art installations, part of Zahidah Zeytoun Millie’s PhD research submission. This project delves into the intersection of artistic practice and environmental advocacy.

The first part of the exhibition will be held daily at the Project Space Gallery, Deakin Waterfront Campus, from 11th to 20th September, with viewing hours from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Please refer to the poster for additional details.

The second part of the exhibition features an immersive film experience, which will be screened at the Nyaal Precinct, Waurn Ponds Deakin campus, on 19th and 20th September, with sessions from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Mangroves from the Water film was made possible with the kind support of Aubrey Comben (camera operator, editor), sound artist Hamish Dobie, Deakin University, and The Nyaal.

Zahidah Zelda Zeytoun Millie

Mangroves from the Water Founder & Curator

www.zahidahart.comwww.mangrovesfromthewater.com

Mangroves from the Water started as an art campaign in the UAE in 2014 with a series of multimedia group art exhibitions over three years, and a 2017 Mangroves Festival.  The art campaign continued globally from International Mangroves Day 26 July 2021, running till 18 August, in Geelong, Australia.  Our latest exhibition was held at the National Mall in Washington DC during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2022.  We had the honour to represent the UAE at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival from 21 June to 4 July.

Announcement: Mangrove Art Exhibition

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Mangroves Art.  

It has taken over two centuries for non-Indigenous people to truly recognise the value of mangroves. Similarly, the aesthetic allure of mangrove forests and the appreciation of mangrove-inspired art have evolved only gradually.

Since the launch of Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) in 2013, the initiative has endeavoured to spotlight the beauty and ecological importance of mangroves through multidisciplinary art exhibitions. These exhibitions not only showcase the diverse artistry inspired by mangroves but also aim to foster global awareness and protection of these vital ecosystems. MFTW promotes art that emerges from deep ecological intimacy, encouraging artists to engage directly with mangroves—often by kayaking through them—thereby nurturing a profound and reflective connection with this unique environment.

Over the years, Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) has inspired many artists to explore the mangroves through kayaking, fostering engagement, raising awareness, and stimulating art creation from these immersive experiences. In a recent radio interview in February, artist Jacqui Dreessens  shared that MFTW had introduced her to the mangroves, a previously unknown area of Geelong (The Sustainable Hour, 2023).

Now, is the time for art collectors to contribute to building a nascent mangroves art market in southern Victoria, which I believe will raise awareness of mangroves among a Victorian audience. In principle when we love a tree, nostalgic memories arise, often compelling us to collect art that represents this connection.

We are pleased to announce that gallery director Karen Spreadborough has embraced the idea of hosting and curating an exhibition focused on mangroves and wetlands at her spacious gallery, The Hive, aptly located near the Barwon River mangroves. The exhibition, Flow – Stories from the Wetlands, is featuring works from 25 artists, is currently open at The Hive Ocean Grove Gallery and will run until June 30, 2024.

For information on the Flow- Stories from the Wetlands exhibition and the Hive gallery please visit these two websites:

The Hive Collective (collectivethehive.com)

https://thehiveoceangrove.com.au/

Interview with Jacqui Dreessens: Sustainable Hour, no. 447, Investigating the reality through journalism, arts and artificial intelligence, 94.7 the Pulse, February 2023.

Zahidah Zeytoun Millie

www.mangrovesfromthewater.com

UAE vows to plant 100 million mangroves by 2030 at COP26

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Fantastic news for the Mangroves from the Water team!

The UAE has announced an increase to their target, to plant 100 million mangroves trees by 2030 at COP26, according to the Emirates News Agency:

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, presented the new target at the High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Adaptation Action that took place on the Adaptation, Loss and Damage Day at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

Please see the article and view the video here.

The beautiful paintings of Helen Martin

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The beautiful paintings of Helen Martin conveys a touching fondness for her husband by translating his deep-rooted connection to the mangroves, Her skill as a painter is evident in the atmospheric depictions of mangrove trees as seen in the images below, manifesting the vibrancy and liveliness through brush strokes and play of light.

Helen’s artist statement:

For the Mangroves from the Water Exhibition, Helen is collaborating with her husband Peter Martin, who has a deep affinity with mangroves having grown up playing and exploring them on the shore in front of his family home at Peek’s Point, East Gosford in New South Wales – on Darkinjung Country. 

Her works for the exhibition draw on recent images of a small stand of white mangroves planted in the early 1960s by the five Martin boys at shoreline of Broken Bay. These young boys were motivated to plant mangrove seedlings they had found nearby in response to the degradation and destruction of the local mangroves, their playground, caused by unabashed urban development. The mangroves were seeded in the rocky foreshore among the clusters of native oysters, and over the past 50 years thrived, creating a new habitat.

Helen Martin’s paintings: ‘Mangroves at Peek’s Point, Darkinjung Country: a Martin Legacy I-V’, 2021.

“The girl who fell in love with the mangroves” : sneak preview!

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We are so proud of the variety of multi-media on offer at the next Mangroves from the Water exhibition.

Here is a preview to entice you to visit the Gordon Gallery.

Geraldine Chansard collaborated with director Pauline Dupin to create this heartwarming tale in a short video.

https://vimeo.com/582891382
Works

You can follow the news thread on Geraldine’s crowdfunding page to see the development of this project, as well as contribute to realize her dream:

https://fr.ulule.com/la_jeune_fille_tombee_amoureuse_des_mangroves/news/

Marawed Magazine focuses on the mangroves as part of Emirati Heritage

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marawed-32-en-low-2Download

We are grateful to be part of this important magazine called Marawed and fortunate to be working with Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam, Chairman of the Sharjah Institute of Heritage and Editor-in-Chief.

Plants and trees – nature in general- is extremely important to the Emirati culture and prominent in Islamic traditions and teachings from the Holy Qu’ran.

Marawed focuses on the mangroves as part of the the UAE’s natural landscapes and elevate its importance to that of the better-known Date Palms and Ghaf trees spread across the lands.

Please do read the magazine (download the link above) for the interesting information on the local mangroves- from its medicinal uses since 4th Century BC, the botanical and biological science behind it, and the valuable contribution these mangrove trees make to the environment.

The Sharjah Institute of Heritage is a great supporter of Mangroves from the Water, and we thank them for their continued assistance and participation.

Passion for the Mangroves – Kerrie Taylor

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We are so happy to have Kerrie Taylor as the latest artist to join our team at Mangroves from the Water.

Kerrie shared these work- in- progress photos while doing research in the mangroves of the Darwin beaches.

She travels there every year from Victoria for further research on pneumatophores and mangroves.

What is a pneumatophore you might ask?:

noun, plural: pneumatophores. (botany) A specialized aerial root, such as in certain mangrove species, that stick up out of the soil and covered with many lenticels for gaseous exchange. (zoology) The air sac or float in certain siphonophores. Supplement. In botany, pneumatophores are a type of aerial root.

I must admit myself, these aerial roots astounded me at my first sight of them in the Umm Al Quwain mangroves (UAE). It is hard not to get obsessed over them.

Here is a sneak peek at the textile-based artworks by Kerrie Taylor inspired by the mangroves