Fresh & Salty - water, water, water - the inspiration for Victorian artists
Water - and the lack of it - has become part of the national daily conversation. Like almost everywhere in Australia, the depressing, desiccating effects of the drought have been felt heavily in regional Victoria. Artists across the state are now using water, and its lack, as inspiration for a series of projects that are designed to give support to communities and highlight water issues that are relevant to each community.
Fresh & Salty is the initiative of Regional Arts Victoria and 10 artists are involved in towns and regions including Horsham, Ballarat and the Wellington Shire. The first project was in Horsham with animators Dave Jones, Hannah French and puppet maker Mary French developing an animated film to tell the story of rising salinity through the eyes of the creatures in the Wimmera River.
In Kurtonitj near Tyrendarra, Vicki Couzens, a Keeray Wurrong/Ginditjmara woman from Koroit and Carmel Wallace from Portland are building a large stone sculpture which explores the different ways European settlers and Indigenous cultures have lived on the land and used water.
Fresh & Salty runs until mid 2008.
