Toondah: The Art of Conservation Exhibition celebrates many artists’ contributions to the successful Save Toondah community campaign.
An extraordinary collection of artworks created during the 10-year campaign to save Toondah Harbour will come together for the first time, as the community celebrates the creativity and determination that helped save the internationally significant Ramsar wetlands from a proposed large-scale development.
Toondah: The Art of Conservation exhibition will be held over two days at the Cleveland Scout Hall in Ormiston:
- 12noon-5pm Saturday 3 October and
- 9am-3.30pm Sunday 4 October.
This event will bring together artists, Traditional Owners, photographers, filmmakers, quilters, storytellers, musicians, schoolchildren, community members and nature lovers.
The exhibition will showcase artworks created over a decade in response to the natural beauty of Toondah Harbour and the community’s campaign to protect its Ramsar-listed wetlands and local koala habitat.
Included in the display will be Beako, the giant Eastern Curlew puppet who appeared at many Toondah campaign events.
Also on view will be a giant community quilt which was displayed for several months at Brisbane’s St John’s Cathedral.
Organisers say the exhibition demonstrates the important role that art played in giving the conservation campaign a powerful public voice.
“The Toondah campaign showed that art can be much more than something we hang on a wall — it can inspire people, tell stories and help communities stand up for the places they love,” says Judith Hoyle of the Toondah Alliance.
The Toondah Alliance is composed of community and environmental organisations including: ACF Community Bayside, Redlands2030 Inc, Birdlife Southern Qld, Koala Action Group and Stradbroke Terangeri Environmental & Cultural Protection Association Inc.
Program for Toondah: the Art of Conservation
On Saturday 3 October the program runs from 12noon-5pm and will include panel discussions, presentations, music, exhibition of artworks, and a community sausage sizzle. Artists and special guests will be recognised throughout the afternoon.
On Sunday 4 October from 9:00am to 3:30pm, the focus will turn to families and the wider community, with hands on art activities including painting life sized wood shorebirds and making postcards. There will be opportunities to explore the artworks and stories behind the campaign. And more sausages will be sizzled.