Conceptualised by Riverland devotee Olivia Allen and designed by artists Kathryn Sproul and Christopher Bartlett with sound by Jason Sweeney, FLOW gathers stories from the diverse multicultural communities of the Riverland that reflect their personal, cultural and historical interaction with water.
Riverland groups and community members were integral to this project. The Riverland Quilters Group, Riverland Textiles Group, Renmark Woodwork Group, Riverland Special School, Glossop High School ILC, Creative Careers, Tafe SA and individual community members attended weaving workshops to weave pods that created the main sculptural installation.
The sculptural installation was set amongst the McCormick Centre wetlands and incorporated the sounds and stories of water as told by the Riverland community. The soundtrack of interviews conducted by Olivia with community members about their connection to water can be downloaded.
Soundtrack click here
IPhone via iTunes click here
Android apps click here
It is the first big sculptural work for the McCormick Centre and the first grand-scale project Country Arts SA and the McCormick Centre have collaborated on.
Designer Kathryn Sproul said the workshops were a great way to start conversations within the community.
“I have loved seeing the originality and diverse designs in response to the task of weaving a pod shape,” she said. “The delight of the workshops in the Riverland has been the emergence of the conversations as we work. There is something about the magic of sitting around the table weaving.”
FLOW was produced by Country Arts SA with assistance from the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts and advisory body and through the Ministry for the Arts, Regional Arts Fund that supports sustainable cultural development in communities across regional and remote Australia.
Flow was the first project in the Country Arts SA This Is A River 2014 – 2016 program.
