The Floating Land Festival is taking off on the Sunshine Coast today until Sunday 5th June. Conceived in 2001 as an outdoor sculpture exhibition, Floating Land has made a name for itself as one of Australia’s leading Green Art events. Re-engaging the community with nature has sparked the imagination of writers, performance artists, musicians, photographers, academics and scientists. In 2011 Floating Land is celebrating its sixth year as a ten-day program of workshops and events, bringing people from across the Asia-Pacific together with communities on the Sunshine Coast.
What it’s all about…
Floating Land is an ongoing conversation about creativity, the environment and culture. The 2011 theme, Water Culture, continues this conversation and acknowledges that people of the Asia Pacific region face adverse consequences of climate change due to their close relationship with, and dependence upon, waterways.
The theme recognises that we are living in times when previously accepted models for development are being questioned. The idea that science and technology are tools for dominating our natural and cultural environments has given way to a broader outlook, encouraging decision-making based on innovative thinking and creative responses that incorporate social, cultural and heritage values. The present challenge also requires that our response be grounded in the relationships between people and communities, their knowledge, experiences, visions and values.
Water Culture will examine the impact of our lifestyle choices on our ability to sustain a healthy planet. It will promote the need for intergenerational equity, to ensure that our children and their children will inherit the same diversity in natural and cultural resources enjoyed by previous generations.
Visiting Asia Pacific artists join local and national artists, performers, new media artists, musicians, photographers, academics, scientists and cultural practitioners to create and deliver messages that explore shared concerns and issues surrounding climate change; in particular are the impacts of rising sea levels on coastal and island communities and the cultural and environmental impact of water as commodity.
Want to check it out?
The focal venue is Boreen Point at Lake Cootharaba in the UNESCO-listed biosphere of Noosa, with satellite locations at Coolum and Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast.
Check out the program at http://www.floatingland.com.au/program
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