EDITION #8 – DECEMBER 2015 ~ MAY 2016 www.facebook.com/Earthemag www.earth-emag.com
Are we human?
Interspecies Collaborations
Gloria Morales (right ) with Cecilia Alfonso (left) at the opening of the Art Centre Men’s Museum, 2015. Photograph Greg Weight. Copyright Warlukurlangu.
Moral fibre Gloria Morales, is a long way from her homeland of Chile and a working life removed from her previous employ in the hallowed gallery spaces of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. As the Assistant Manager at Warlukurlangu Artists’ Art Centre (est. 1985) in Yuendumu, Northern Territory, Australia it was art that brought Gloria to this remote environment and with it an interconnectedness to the community and its animals. Arriving in 2003, Gloria was shocked by the poor health of the dogs and set about to change it with the blessing and support of Cecilia Alfonso, Art Centre Manager, also from Chile. While the Art Centre has an enduring reputation for high activity in desert art, Gloria’s arrival brought another chapter. Over the years, Gloria and the Centre have improved the welfare of both animals and their community with many art fundraisers to assist dog programs. The Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation of Yuendumu Dog Program runs the byline ‘Healthy Dogs mean healthy people’. It involves feeding hungry dogs, managing ticks and caring
for abandoned and sick dogs; Artists also fund veterinarians to visit the community to sterilise dogs and treat them for various diseases; they also arrange for supplies to be taken to the RSPCA in Alice Springs or place dogs for adoption through the Australian Desert Dog Adoption Facebook page. With art and animal welfare advice imparted equally, Gloria holds the moniker of ‘The Dog Lady of Yuendumu’ and heroine to many, not least being the 38 or so pets who share her life and home space. These include any animals in distress from cats to foals, joeys, calves, birds and reptiles. Gloria Morales has gloriously mixed art and education to improve the quality and longevity of many an animal’s life with a healthy impact on her chosen community. Perhaps this can be measured in the ‘happiness barometer’ of her brood’s twilight bark when they greet Gloria at the end of her working day and pile into her car for ‘walkies’
Gloria stroller pushing a pet with a disability on an afternoon walk with her pack and AMRRIC volunteers, Vets and visitors. Photograph Linda Bradbury.
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Gloria documenting dog program activity with AMRRIC (Animal Management in Rural & Remote Indigenous Communities). Photograph Linda Bradbury.
under the stunning landscape you see featured on the cover image by veterinarian Linda Bradbury.
MORE INFORMATION www.warlu.com warlu.com/about/special-projects/dogprogram/ See more about Gloria in ‘The Dog Lady’, https://vimeo.com/106878722 Story produced by Brendan Mounter with thanks to PAW Media & Communications, ABC Open Western Queensland.
Vet beyond borders DR JOHN SKUJA It was John Skuja’s photography which first captured the attention of eARTh e-mag in 2014 (when preparing the water-themed edition #4); an image so captivating in the seas off the coast of Australia that we set about permission-seeking to utilise it in relation to a story on the devastation wreaked by ghost nets; this thread drew us further into the discovery of a roving photographer/vet with a publication under his belt about the Dogs and Cats of Vietnam as well as a fascinating and varied working life, including three years working throughout the NT with AMRRIC (Animal Management in Rural & Remote Indigenous Communities). When the world shook with the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, our hearts and heads turned toward the country to find Dr. John Skuja had immersed himself there for three solid weeks to help stricken animals – cattle, buffalo and goats – injured in the 7.9 magnitude quake. Travelling from remote Australia to working in a disaster zone with Humane Society International, John encountered injured animals and grieving owners, in an emotional experience which reminds us all of what it is to be human. Listen to Dr John on ABC Rural radio speaking of the emotional and psychological pitfalls encountered in that environment which for some, can lead to PTSD and compassion fatigue, “There was a goat that was pulled from the rubble 16 days after the earthquake and I became very attached to that animal… It didn’t survive despite treatment and that was particularly heartbreaking for me”. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-27/nepal-earthquakevet/6500470 Posting on social media on May 19, John stated, “If there is something that I have taken home from my time here, it is a real love and deep admiration for the incredibly stoic Nepali farmers. In the face of catastrophe they remain so incredibly gracious and generous. It moved me to tears when people who had lost everything would still offer us what they could after we helped with their beloved animals”. On the frontline, in a team working with the Himalayan Animal Rescue Trust, their work undoubtedly brought hope to the future of Nepal.
John Skuja on the back cover of his book Dogs and Cats of Vietnam which he describes as “a celebration of the connection between dogs and people that can be found everywhere”, October 2014. http://www.blurb.com/ b/5677674-dogs-and-cats-of-vietnam “Two goats, same country, different vibe”. Dr. John Skuja engaging with a healthy goat and tending an injured goat. “The sick looking goat had been pulled from rubble after 16 days and it sadly died”. Top image: John blow-darting a dog in order to desex it with Linda Bradbury. Photos courtesy Dr. John Skuja.
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Bee Haven and photograph by Colleen Finn
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SALUTE Moral fibre, Gloria Morales Chile | Canberra | Yeundumu SALUTE Vet beyond borders, Dr John Skuja Vietnam | Nepal VIEW FROM eARTh FEATURE APT8 Kids and Animals Asia Pacific PROFILE Rod McRae’s Animal Kingdom Australia PROFILE Pam Walpole Antarctica to Africa SNAPSHOT Rhinos Africa TAKE 5 Pumas South America TAKE 2 Snow leopards Ladakh, India TAKE 5 Bee Hives Behaving Queensland eARThy KIDS Welcoming the bees FESTIVALS Global Conversations Woodford Folk Festival DRESS-UPS Mask-Makers United Kingdom SNAP CHAT Beauty, not beast United States of America WHAT ON eARTh? Happenings all over NEXT ISSUE LAST WORD Tony Bee
Are we human?
DISCLAIMER eARTh e-mag is an online publication produced by Conte Creative Concepts showcasing earth-inspired art from around the globe. Content of eARTh e-mag is subject to copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the e-mag Producer, team or relevant contributors is prohibited. Views expressed in eARTh e-mag are not necessarily those of the Producer or core team. The publication of editorial or advertisement does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of views or opinions expressed and the Producer does not accept responsibility for statements made by advertisers or contributors.
ATTRIBUTIONS FRONT COVER: Sunset walk in Yuendumu, Gloria Morales with four legged companions and volunteers Wendy Brown and Arielle Giles, 2014, Photograph by Linda Bradbury, Volunteer Vet to AMRRIC (Animal Management in Rural & Remote Indigenous Communities). BACK COVER: JUSTIN SHOULDER & BHENJI RA in collaboration with JAI JAI | Ex Nilalang: Balud (production still) 2015 | Single-channel HD digital video, 16:9, colour, sound | Photograph: Gregory Lorenzutti. This project was assisted by a grant from Arts NSW, an agency of the New South Wales Government and supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian State and Territory Governments. The program is administered by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA). Developed for APT8 Image courtesy: The artists.
Curating an edition according to the animal kingdom and the respect creatures, great and small, deserve and receive from artists has been a joy, providing evidence that interspecies connections, collaborations and communing go a long way towards improving our shared environments, resilience, adaptation and survival in a changing world. The stories reference Pumas, Snow Leopards, Polar Bears, Penguins, Sea Lions, Leopards, Rhinoceros and domestic pets including Dogs and demonised breeds such as the Pit Bull. We touch on the Stingless Native Australian Bees being introduced to more and more back yards and public spaces, as world understanding increases about the reality of ‘no bees, no me’. Mostly, this issue has been written with Ms Marlee, (our eARTh e-mag adoptive pooch who showed up over a year ago on our base camp doorstep in the Glass House Mountains), curled at my feet. Marlee provides silent, constant and caring companionship changing our lives, neighbourhood connections and work patterns through her demonstrations of what it means to be part of a pack. While wrapping up this edition, the television news provided
updates of a three-day rescue operation of a homeless person’s dog called Brooklyn, trapped in a wombat burrow; our hearts sank, as the professional rescue team called off the search, and then swelled as word spread of a small community banding together working voluntarily and tirelessly until they recovered the dog to reunite him with his owner – again proving the power of a pack as a process of collaboration for accelerating and achieving positive outcomes. Please share your stories via our eARTh e-mag social media of creative collaborations between artists and animals across the globe and how we are finally learning to pay them equal respect, to listen to and learn from their wisdom. We could never tire of Illustrations as to how animals make the world a better place. Yours in eARTh Sandi (Producer) with Ms Marlee (Guest Pet Editor) www.facebook.com/Earthemag
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You can follow Marlee on Instagram as thesecretlifeofmarley
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The eARTh team acknowledges the traditional custodians on whose land we walk, live, work and play. Producer, Sandra, extends thanks to Sarah Heath Design for engagement in this publication.
Commencing in remote Australia, where two expatriate Chileans help manage and link desert art and a community dog program, we shoot off to Nepal with a vet/photographer without borders then Brazil through the lens of a painter and filmmaker in a forest, serendipitously sighting a near extinct species; the United States of America, the Asia Pacific, Africa and Antarctica all yield stories of animal-human/artist connections.
Marlee and Sandi work sided by side on eARTh #8
This end-of-year edition presents a story line-up that literally runs hot and cold as we cross different seasons, climates and temperature zones of many countries in pursuit of interspecies heroes and collaborators.
APT8 KIDS: PETS AND PERFORMERS The often repeated quote, credited to comedian W.C. Fields to “Never work with animals or children” has been challenged by many and QAGOMA (Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art) is no exception. APT8 Kids is connecting children and their families with contemporary art and artists from the Asia Pacific region. Also to be found is certain subject matter relating to animals, real and mythical, ranging from a parrot activity in APT8 Kids, bulls by the same artist to behold on the walls and avatars to engage with, along with a bug performance.
VENKAT RAMAN SINGH SHYAM Sijhora, Madhya Pradesh, India b.1970 Pardhan Gond people Above: The Woman and the Parrot 2015 | Workshop | Photo: Samantha Relihan.
QAGOMA’s Children’s Art Centre hosts representation from over 10 different countries (Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, South Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, India, Iran/UAE, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, as well as, for the first time in an APT, Mongolia and Georgia) with a dedicated program of twelve installations, artworks and activities, and a publication for children. Entitled Draw, Make, Create: APT8 Kids, the ninth book published by the Children’s Art Centre, 10 exhibiting artists and groups share their ideas about what inspires them to make art. The artists have created a number of exciting, contemplative and playful art-making activities, with a focus on drawing, for children to complete at home or at school.
‘Kalpa Vriksha: Contemporary Indigenous and Vernacular Art of India’, the special focus project of APT8, with a mural and paintings shown as part of ‘Kalpa Vriksha’. A tailored version of this project will be presented for APT8 Kids on Tour.
The children’s drawing activity based on the traditional story of ‘The Woman and the Parrot’ and patterns found in Gond art has been developed by Venkat Raman Singh Shyam who is from the Gond tribe in India. The Gond people are one of the largest indigenous groups in India whose artworks use intricate patterns and vibrant colours to depict local flora, fauna and deities. Children are invited to learn about the meaning and significance of the different patterns, to choose a template that features the characters of the story and adorn it with traditional Gond patterns. Shyam’s work is also featured in
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Right: The Woman and the Parrot (detail) 2015 | Synthetic polymer paint on paper | 55.8 x 76.2cm | Commissioned for APT8 Kids with support from the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation | Image courtesy: The artist
PERFORMANCE is a vibrant part of life in the Asia Pacific and the role of the body is a key focus for a number of APT8 artists, such as collaborators Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra as well as Anida Yoeu Ali. The performance of identity through make-up, costuming and adornment is explored in Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra’s work illustrating the stories of mythical creatures from different cultures. For APT8 Kids, they present Club Anak (Club Child), a world of fantasy in which children can explore alternative identities by assembling different physical attributes to create their own avatar. Children are then able to enter a performance space and add their avatar creation to a mythical landscape. The artists in elaborate costumes activated Club Anak during the APT8 opening weekend performances and will do the same for the closing weekend. Hear Venkat Raman Singh Shyam at APT8 speak of his work https://youtu.be/oqoqUL-2H4s
VENKAT RAMAN SINGH SHYAM | Tree of Life 2015 | Site-Specific Mural for APT8 | Queensland Art Gallery | Photograph S. Conte, 2015.
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Khmer artist Anida Yoeu Ali, in her Buddhist Bug performances, stretches up to 100 metres in length, with a vibrant, orange, tubular ‘Bug’ snaking its way into and around a number of urban and rural landscapes of the Artist’s native Cambodia. With the Artist’s face at the head and a mysterious pair of feet extending from the opposite end, this creature performs slow movements and small gestures. A new work featuring the Buddhist Bug is on show at APT8 imagining the possibility like the Bug, of transformational renewal. The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT8), QAGOMA (Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art) runs November 21, 2015 through April 10, 2016, featuring 83 artists from 36 countries with a dynamic children’s hands-on program including multimedia activities animating key spaces. ANIDA YOEU ALI Cambodia|USA b.1974 | The Buddhist Bug, Into the Night (production still) 2015 | 2-channel HD video projection, 7:00 minutes (looped), colour, sound, ed. of 5 A project of Studio Revolt. Concept and performance: Anida Yoeu Ali; Video: Masahiro Sugano. Commissioned for APT8 | The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2015 with funds from Michael Sidney Myer through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra | Club Anak (Club Child) 2015 | Photo: Samantha Relihan
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CAI Guo-Qiang (China b.1957) Heritage 2013 | 99 life-sized replicas of animals: polystyrene, gauze, resin and hide | Commissioned 2013 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.
It appears as though 99 Animals have been brought to life and in the process, a medal accorded to a model benefactor. Through the generous support of benefactor Mrs Winifred (Win) Schubert AO, QAGOMA has acquired numerous works, the most recent being Cai Guo-Qiang’s poetic and allegorical assembly of 99 animals, Heritage 2013 which had gallery-goers flocking to the installation space. Previous such acquisitions include other public favourites including Kohei Nawa’s PixCell-Double Deer #4 2010; Yayoi Kusama’s Flowers that bloom at midnight 2011; and Brett Whiteley’s White dove feeling the universe 1985–92. In what has been described as an exceptional and inspiring contribution to the State’s art collection, the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) awarded the Gold Coast-based philanthropist the 2015 QAGOMA Medal. Chair of the Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees, Professor Susan Street AO acknowledged Win Schubert’s dedicated contribution to the Gallery’s Collection, a patronage that started over 20 years ago. “This presentation of the QAGOMA Medal coincides with a new philanthropic milestone for the Gallery. Win Schubert has now directly gifted or funded the acquisition of over 100 artworks. She is one of the most generous benefactors in the QAGOMA Foundation’s 36 year history,” said Professor Street. QAGOMA Director Chris Saines CNZM in thanking the Patron announced, “Win Schubert has supported the development of art in Queensland and helped to ensure that the Queensland public have the opportunity to experience a wide array of outstanding artworks. Her far-reaching and generous support has enabled the Gallery to acquire a broad range of works, from a Renaissance print by Albrecht Dürer to paintings by emerging Queensland artists. Her support continues to expand the distinct and enduring significance of art in our lives. We remain humbled by her generosity and moved by her dedication to the Gallery, to the arts, and to the Queensland community.” The QAGOMA Medal, designed and produced by renowned Queensland jeweller Barbara Heath, is awarded to an individual who has given distinguished and outstanding service to the Gallery, or who has made a transformative contribution to the institution.
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ROD McRAE’S ANIMAL KINGDOM Rod McRae as a sculptor is steadfast in his focus as to “how art can influence and reinforce the environment and climate change debate”. Applying taxidermy skills to ethically sourced specimens (as explained in the disclaimer posted to his website), the viewing public are greeted by an installation encounter with all manner of creatures – Zebra, Lion, Polar Bear and Foxes, Penguins and even skeletons, humanised by the Artist’s hand as a means of challenging the viewer’s perception in relation to the real animal cohabiting the space. A prolific children’s book illustrator and author in the 1980’s, the subsequent decade saw Rod switch focus to the photographic field, still publishing, but also exhibiting and receiving two short-listings in the Blake Prize for Religious Art and then the prestigious Wynne Prize of 2008. In 2010, a solo show followed and then Wunderkammer, the cabinet of Wonders, which has been touring since 2013, raising awareness of a broad range of conservation issues from climate change to pollution, hunting and animal-human interactions. Each work highlights an animal ‘issue’ by the full scale animal’s very presence, begging the question of how we can improve cohabitation on the planet between the various species. The Crying out loud in the age of stupid, presents a polar bear on the edge of a mock fridge, witness to its disappearing ice habitat and prey, heralding starvation; it is a witty, ironic commentary, given the hardware used to make ice impacts environment by depleting natural ice formations though the release of CFC’s and ozone damage.
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Rod McRae: Clockwise from top Born Free, 2013 Artist’s statement “When making this work I was well aware that Lions and other big cats are traditionally posed in taxidermy to accentuate their fierce and powerful attributes as trophies to the hunt-always rewarding the hunter. This pose does quite the opposite, reducing the animal to a playful and passive individual. I referenced the behaviour of my cat in determining the final pose. I think its passivity is very disarming.” Crying out loud in the age of stupid, 2010, 1 sub-adult male Polar Bear, Ursus maritimus (Canada), MDF, Two-pac, high-gloss white paint. Operation FOXTROT, 2010, 7x Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes Are you my mother?, 2010, original installation (available as giclée print).
Rod McRae, The Judas Collar, 2 x donkey skins, bone, glass, plastic, steel, high-density foam, copper & fabric, 2015.
AFTER-LIFE, Animal Stories from beyond the Grave is Rod’s newest show, which opened this month in Adelaide at Z Ward, borne of a partnership with the National Trust of South Australia. ARTIST’S STATEMENT: Many introduced animals like Donkeys that are designated ‘Feral’ by Australian authorities forfeit their right to be slaughtered in a humane manner. The Judas Collar is a GPS device that is strapped to a feral Jenny to lead hunters to any group of wild donkeys she might discover – unfortunately for the herd – this has terrible consequences. The Jenny however is left standing among the carnage to find another group – where
This work describes the visceral nature of the animal condition, driven by the need for companionship and the drive to reproduce, the act of sex becomes a potent symbol of freedom, belonging and reproduction – all three notions are subject to constraint in human society but so easily expressed in animal societies. The animal sex act embarrasses our human sensibilities, reminding us we are not free to pursue our own animal urges; but also it underlines our fear of alternate species gaining dominance. We decide which animals can breed and which cannot, domesticated cattle may as they have economic value to us (even though they weigh heavy on the environment) animals without obvious economic value – may not. www.rodmcrae.com.au
Rod McRae, The end of nature, city, 2011, mixed media, dimensions variable, courtesy the artist
upon the cull is repeated. It has been observed in donkeys that the Jenny eventually learns that she is somehow bringing death to her friends. After two or three exterminations she refuses to seek out her own kind, whereupon she is shot and the Judas Collar recycled on another. The Judas collar is also used on so-called feral camel, goat, pig, buffalo and dogs, in fact it has proved deadly effective on any sociable species.
Wunderkammer The Cabinet of Wonders Rod McRa e 5 December 2015 - 7 February 2016
Flinders University City Gallery State Library of SA, North Tce, Adelaide flinders.edu.au/artmuseum | Interspecies Collaborations
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nests or just huddling with their young. I sketched as best I could wearing fat cumbersome gloves in the sub-zero temperatures. The penguins seemed oblivious to us, although some broke away from their activities to come and investigate us. One pecked at the rope of the Zodiac after we had disembarked. Others just peered at us from a distance. We never approached them and sat still while they walked around us if we were in their path.
POLES APART PAM WALPOLE PAM WALPOLE BECAME ADDICTED TO THE ICE OF ANTARCTICA, SO VENTURED FORTH TO THE ARCTIC AND, EQUALLY, COULD NOT RESIST THE DRY PLAINS OF AFRICA, ALWAYS WITH A SKETCH BOOK IN HAND.
ANTARCTICA Pam described her trip with the Adventure travel company ‘Aurora’ as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the leader being Expeditioner Greg Mortimer, the first Australian who climbed Mt Everest without oxygen. With Greg, they skimmed around icebergs in a Zodiac and headed ashore to explore the rocky, icy continent.
SEALS, POLAR BEARS, WALRUS Seals were a different story; fur seals can be quite aggressive so we kept our distance but some basking Weddell seals just rose their head and plopped down again. A bull elephant seal just snorted and continued to laze. Leopard seals we stayed away from and watched in horror as one chased a penguin for its dinner around our Zodiac.
THE ARCTIC I was hooked on ice, so the following year we went to the Arctic with the same company and searched for Polar Bears. That was a very different experience as they are one to avoid. However, from the safety of our Zodiac, we came upon one snoozing on a rock above us so were able to get quite close. We encountered nine over a 16 day period. Walrus were shy but we watched them popping above the surface to peep at us before submerging with a snort.
AFRICA
Traversing continents, Pam has engaged with all manner of animals, her drawings and descriptions capturing those moments of direct connection.
Several years later I went to Africa as I just love drawing animals in their natural habitat and quick sketches they have to be as they move quickly out of sight at times.
PENGUIN
I went to Tanzania in 1999 and camping in the Serengeti made me an Africaphile forever! Sketching the wildlife from the safety of a 4WD meant I could get up close to sleeping prides of lions and their playful cubs. Elephants were a favourite and with the help of an understanding guide/driver I was able to sit and watch their behaviour and sketch away until they, or we, moved on.
We could often smell or hear the penguin colonies before we saw them. And then, what a sight. What seemed thousands of them squawking and squabbling, waddling and sliding, stealing rocks from each others
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Our next exciting encounter was when we stopped our 4WD to watch a cheetah in the sunbaked grassland. Before too long the cheetah crept boldly out of the waist high grass and crept under our vehicle – and stayed there. At first we thought it was using our vehicle as a hide to watch the Impala on the other side of the track, but no – it simply wanted to snooze in the only shade for miles around! It’s beautiful tail stretched out beyond the 4WD so I leant out and sketched it!.
Pam Walpole is represented by Lasting Impressions Gallery (Kenilworth), Red Hill Gallery (Brisbane) and Manly Gallery, (Queensland). Drawings by Pam Walpole. Photographs by Bob Walpole.
I returned to Africa several years later, but this time to Kenya with my husband and we visited the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi and sponsored a baby elephant called Siria that a village had found trapped in their well. Its mother had been killed and thankfully the orphanage was contacted. After two years, Siria, with other orphans, were relocated to Tsavo National Park to be returned gradually to the wild. This is one of many success stories but sadly there are too many with not so happy endings. Elephants and Rhino are continually poached and their ivory ruthlessly taken for the ivory foreign market in China and Thailand. I take a sketchbook wherever I travel and once home in my studio, concentrate on an exhibition of paintings on canvas.
pamwalpole.com Interspecies Collaborations
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“The authenticity of uncontrived animal viewing breeds connection, care and respect”, Photographer Richard Field.
Connecting with wild animals from Richard Field, out-of-Africa Few things give me a greater thrill than seeing wild animals in their natural habitat – it is the primary reason I became a safari guide. Over the last 19 years of working in safaris I have found myself wanting to connect with some very wild (and often dangerous) animals on some ‘deeper’ level. On reflection though, this deeper connection I seek is purely egotistic. I am wanting a wild animal to acknowledge in some way the importance of my existence. But these connections aren’t real. An elephant or buffalo or leopard is more than capable of looking after itself in its wild environment. It doesn’t benefit in any way from including me in its life. The simple truth is I need them in my life far more then they need me, and if I attempt to connect on any ‘deeper’ level, then I’m taking away the very thing that attracted me to that animal in the first place – its innate wildness. True connections, whether human or animal, need to be based on your care for them rather than your care for yourself. Often this means staying back and letting them be. I love to sit quietly with my guests (often families) and watch the natural behaviour of the wild animals we are watching. I’m always curious to discover what they are up to in their daily wanderings. What we view isn’t always pretty, but it is completely uncontrived. This authenticity fosters understanding, which in turn breeds real connection, care and respect for both the animals themselves and the wilderness. “Connecting with wild animals is by definition a one-way flow. Anything else will automatically take away their inherent wildness”, Photographer Richard Field.
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RHINOS IN AFRICA ARE ON THE BRINK. Today, at least four rhinos will be killed in South Africa alone. The number grows every day. They are slaughtered for their horn, which is in high demand in Vietnam and China for supposed medicinal purposes (it is made of keratin, so has the same medicinal properties as your fingernails). Rhino horn is twice as expensive as cocaine. The high prices matched by huge demand means the game has changed. Highly sophisticated crime syndicates are now involved. People are paid off on the ground and poaching teams have land crews as well as teams in helicopters. Mercenaries are hired to shoot at the anti-poaching units – it is a battleground. The rhinos of Africa need your care and support. Here are a couple of Rhino conservation organisations doing great work, but needing more money: INTERNATIONAL ANTI POACHING FOUNDATION http://www.iapf.org Founded by Damien Mander, an ex-military officer from Australia, the IAPF is working on the ground, training rangers and troops to fight for rhinos in the real poaching hotspots. WILDERNESS TRUST BOTSWANA RHINO RELOCATION AND REINTRODUCTION http://www.wildernesstrust.com/portfolio/botswana-rhino-relocation-and-reintroduction/ Wilderness Safaris in partnership with the government of Botswana are relocating rhinos from the poaching hotspots of South Africa and to the relative safety of northern Botswana. Here they are protected and defended by the Botswana Defence Force, a sophisticated and highly trained army whose main purpose is wildlife conservation.
Exposed. A black rhino stands alone in northern Tanzania. The global population of black rhino is less than 4,000 and they are under constant threat from industrial scale poaching organised by international criminal syndicates. Photographer Richard Field.
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PUMAS
BIG CATS CAUGHT ON CAMERA Award winning filmmaker and painter, Christian Spencer has been featured in a previous edition of eARTh e-mag for his painting and we couldn’t resist hearing about this fascinating ‘happening’ from his forest home in Brazil. It was with excitement that we learned of Christian’s filmic find right outside he and wife, fellow artist Tatiana Clauzet’s, studio door.
Christian Spencer, Photos of the puma are taken with the Camara trap that detects movement and heat. First you have to track the animal and then place the camera and hope that he passes.
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It is an extremely mystical animal that appears to walk between worlds and I find it an honour and a privilege to learn more about them in a intimate way.
In fact the near-extinct majestic creature Christian captured on film also inspired him to paint it. According to Christian “This is a wild and dangerous animal that moves through the forest like a ghost!” Here’s the story in Christian’s words:-
When I first arrived in Itatiaia Brasil, 14 years ago, there were many stories of the puma or mountain lion but other people said that it didn’t exist any more; these stories fascinated me and for the following year I spent the majority of my time tracking the puma, finding tracks and beginning to have a better understanding of her. One year, to the day, I finally saw her hunting a pig deep in the forest, I never expected it to be so big and agile. You feel fear and magic at the same time, and the raw energy of the puma almost penetrates your body. I never walked in the forest by myself for six months after that. Soon after, I decided to buy a Camara trap, which is a camera that you put in the forest and it takes photos by heat or movement by itself. I excitedly put it on a tree not far from my house and the first photo the camera took was a giant puma passing in front of the camera, 6 o’clock at night. Everybody was extremely excited and shocked, it was the first photo taken in the history of the park and nobody ever imagined it passed so close to where we lived. After that I bought two cameras and for the next year and a half found specific places where they passed, with babies and discovered there were up to seven individuals just in the four square kilometres where I lived!!!! Each photo was like gold, registering a second of their mysterious life and habits in the forest. I started to experiment with camera positions, above, front-on etc. The photos inspired many paintings. After all this time tracking and photographing and painting the camera was set to video and one afternoon a massive male puma lay down in front of the camera and rolled around, licked and posed for about five minutes, then two weeks later, in the middle of the night, the same puma came back and amazingly did the same thing. Even the biologists were completely stunned as they had never before registered such behaviour. http://www.christianspencer.pro.br/2011.html Christian Spencer, The Ghosts of Three Peaks, Acrylic on Canvas, 130x100cm
DON’T MISS! CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS | JANUARY 9-13, 2016 Celebrates the zoological diversity of planet earth featuring a striking backdrop of digital animation and a new contemporary music score by Quincy Grant inspired by the symphonic work of composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The Playhouse QPAC qpac.com.au Left: Carnival of the Animals, Photo by Justin Nicolas, Atmosphere
EATING OUT? IF ANIMAL WELFARE IS IMPORTANT TO YOU... Visit choosewisely.org.au to find a café or restaurant that’s putting humane food on the menu. choosewisely.org.au |
@RSPCAchoosewisely | #RSPCAchoosewisely Interspecies Collaborations 17
explains snow leopards are found in Ladakh and “The nomads have a peaceful relationship with predatory animals despite the fact that they often kill their livestock”. Their current project, under preparation for release in 2017 is here described in Irie’s words.
FILMMAKER, PHOTOGRAPHER AND WRITER, IRIE LANGLOIS, HAS BEEN SPENDING TIME IN LADAKH, CAMPING WITH A NOMADIC TRIBE OF 17 FAMILIES AS PART OF A DOCUMENTARY BEING PRODUCED WITH PARTNER AJE UNNI AS TO HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS AFFECTING THE TRADITIONAL LIFESTYLE, GIVEN THAT FOR MANY YEARS THE GROUP COMPRISED 100-PLUS FAMILIES. A subsequent trip to Zanskar saw Irie and Aje work with the Snow Leopard Conservation, (SLC) followed by a long road trip through the mountains to Delhi to collect a donated Drone camera. While there is no explicit connection to their current documentary project, Irie
Set against the wild majesty of the Himalayan landscape in the province of Ladakh, the northern most part of India, Of Woman And Earth is a documentary film which tells of the trials, tribulation and triumph of three elderly nomadic women whose life stories have unfolded in The Tibetan Plateau. With themes that explore spirituality, women’s roles within the nomadic community, and their connection with animals and Mother Earth, the film progresses in the harsh landscape and with rapidly changing climatic conditions and cultural changes spurred by modernisation. The Tibetan Plateau is the most elevated, vast and isolated land on our planet. The region is renowned for its immense splendour and breathtaking landscapes. For some of the world’s oldest nomadic communities, the Plateau is their home, their livelihood and the origin of their spirituality. These people live in tents made of yak’s wool and in complete alignment with the earth; where peace and balance within nature is sustainable. Their lives are finely tuned to the growth of grass, the birth of animals and the seasonal movement of their herds. For thousands of years they have survived solely by raising animals. With pashmina wool (extracted from the goat) and yak’s wool being the predominant source of income for the nomads, women spend hours each day spinning wool and weaving traditional carpets, which hold deep spiritual beliefs of the feminine relationship with nature.
‘Of Woman And Earth’, produced, directed and filmed by Aje Unni and Irie Langlois. Currently based in Leh, Ladakh, North India. Contact: ofwomanandearth@gmail.com; irie.langlois@gmail.com www.ofwomanandearth.com; facebook.com/ofwomanandearth
Tsering Dolkar attends to her herd of goats and sheep, 2015 All photography by Irie Langlois.
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Dawa Tsering and his daughter-in-law extract yak’s wool, 2015
Ladakh, Irie Langlois and Aje Unni, Filmmakers.
Sonam Lanzes inside her home, a tent made of yak’s wool, 2015
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BEE HIVES BEHAVING “ IF THE BEE DISAPPEARED OFF THE SURFACE OF THE GLOBE THEN MAN WOULD ONLY HAVE FOUR YEARS OF LIFE LEFT. NO MORE BEES, NO MORE POLLINATIONS, NO MORE PLANTS, NO MORE ANIMALS, NO MORE MAN.” Albert Einstein
This unsourced quote, sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein, who was neither an etymologist nor beekeeper, certainly provides food for thought. The role bees play in sustaining the human race is powerful and remarkable. During 2015, eARTh e-mag has been super busy learning all about the Stingless Native Bee, a resilient yet fragile species, from HiveHaven a start-up company determined to create a unique bee box and hive to save the bees. The origins of HiveHaven’s quest is found in their garage, in 2011, where they happened upon a swarm of bees and were instructed to exterminate them. Taking the opposite approach they have worked with the bees to learn more and develop a haven that will obviate the massive impact of heat on their hives and the subsequent colony loss, along with a component to prevent any beetle invasion. You can hear more about HiveHaven from Co-Founders Jeff and Ann Ross at this link http://www.hivehaven.com.au
eARTh e-mag has been excited to facilitate the introduction of both HiveHaven’s 3D prototype and then the exquisitely crafted pilot hive to be in-situ at the Caboolture Montessori School (CMS) in the Moreton Bay region of Australia. CMS, the independent school which subscribes to the universal Montessori philosophy is a great fit for HiveHaven bee hives as it has a pre-prep through primary school community on a semi-rural campus where the School’s motto is ‘A Care More School’ – Care More for Self, Care More for Other and Care More for the Environment. The students adore the bees and are becoming bee ambassadors, learning and researching how to help the bees and their campus co-exist; the students are now excitedly awaiting to meet HH Worker Bee, an animation character developed by HiveHaven. Leading up to and as part of their annual Environment Day, the School community set about fundraising with raffles through donated bee-related
CREATIVE COMMUNING WITH BEES eARTh e-mag hopes to develop a creative resource kit in conjunction with HiveHaven for hive recipients including schools and cultural institutions such as galleries and museums; the kit is anticipated to provide creative workshopping ideas and outcomes for receiving and maintaining hives, along with better understanding of the bees; it will present basic aspects such as the recommended flora to support the bees and the removal of detrimental trees, as did CMS by removing a massive tree purported to decimate bee populations. One creative avenue being explored is to adorn the hive with an artwork of merit that is both stingless bee specific and respectful to the hive design. As part of background research, eARTh e-mag producer, Sandra Conte who is also a curator, was excited to meet with Sandra Ullrich, founder of the Adelaide Bee Sanctuary [see Sandra in the page-centre honeycomb images] to understand their working relationship with artists. Sandra Conte was further inspired when reviewing a Queensland exhibition at the Arts and Ecology Centre, Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens, to discover artist Sandra Pearce whose work sensitively interprets the natural world.
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From left to right: Sandra Pearce photographed with Connection, Monotype + Etching with Handcolouring; Sandra Pearce | Kin | 1 of 2, Monotype+Collage; Sandra Pearce | Society | 3 of 4, Monotype. All works produced in 2015. www.sandrapearce.com.au
goods and bee-dedicated dress days towards raising awareness of bringing the bees and maintaining their habitat on campus. Over the year the site was allocated and preparations made for the non-invasive tower housing the 3D design box and in the Spring the School welcomed the bees and a new state-of-the-art hive design. Clockwise from top left: Ann introduces the young children to the stingless bee hive before transferral to the new hive; Sandra Conte from eARTh e-mag at right, facilitating the bee introduction to CMS with Principal Rinaldi of Caboolture Montessori School at left and Anne of HiveHaven; Ann and Sari set about awareness raising in the school community for the Stingless Native Bee; The School Environment Day highlighted bee issues to attending politicians such as Wyatt Roy, Federal Member for Longman and Assistant Minister for Innovation, Australian Government; eARTh e-mag met with the Adelaide Bee Sanctuary founder Sandra Ullrich at these hives on the rooftop of Adelaide Zoo.
CARE MORE FOR SELF CARE MORE FOR OTHERS CARE MORE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
CMS delivers an internationally and nationally accepted and valued recognised curriculum to a student cohort from 15 months – 12 years. | Caboolture Montessori School 200 Old Gympie Road Caboolture
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“I’ve been doing some more monoprints in my bee/pollinator series, (‘Kin’ and ‘Society’). My interest in bees originated from an increasing awareness of the biodiversity within my own garden. I’ve had some native stingless bees for many years and went to a workshop by Tim Heard about stingless bees, where I learnt more about their behaviour and how they can be managed in a suburban environment. In my art practice I’ve been exploring my creative relationships with place and I’ve started with my immediate ‘wild’ space – my own garden. As an artist, I love the immediacy of monoprinting (as opposed to more traditional methods of printmaking) and the ability to include plant material and other found objects into my work to create the imagery. For me, its a direct connection to the natural world with all its layers, textures and colours.”
Contact Principal Yvonne Rinaldi for an interview on +61 7 5495 5877 www.cms.qld.gov.au
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FESTIVALS
GLOBAL CONVERSATION eARTh e-mag covers the international Woodford Folk Festival each year with this year all about celebrating its 30th Anniversary. As an annual exploration of folklore, drawing the best of such performers from around the planet, the Woodford experience in turn provides an end of year focus and grounding along with New Year renewal. With sometimes unpredictable summer weather our tents have been pitched in sunny dispositions, endured stifling heat and last year encountered a mid festival river streaming through the tent centre. All this
is part of the exciting experience, serving as a reminder of the vicissitudes of climate. ‘Woodford’ continues to provide magic and familiarity, create memories and provide annual anticipation of amazing artists and a sense of global responsibility. In this final article of the year on Woodford, we bring focus to the speakers, the talkers, the conversationalists and the dialogue that abounds. The GREENhouse and Comedy Debates have always been favourites of the entire team and we choose to highlight those change-agents who raise awareness and advice on actioning of issues for the global good. “Happy 30th Birthday Woodford” and ‘here-here’ to a sample of inspirational speakers from the 2015/16 program. Roy Sonnenburg (pictured above right) is a wandering ornithologist involved in tours, research, environmental consulting and bird issues. He has had a long-term involvement in Australian conservation issues and is the past
president of Birds Australia. Join Roy on the Early Morning Bird Walk experience. Roy has been monitoring the birds of Woodfordia since 1993. Sunday December 27, Tuesday December 29 and Thursday December 31 at 6:00am General Store, Woodfordia. TIM HEARD is an entomologist and long-term stingless beekeeper and promoter of native bees. He has developed new hive designs, written numerous respected publications and led community projects in promoting native bee populations. http://sugarbag.net Tim presents ‘Colony Propagation for Backyard Native Bees’ in which he explains and demonstrates essential skills for all backyard native beekeepers. Sunday December 27, 8.00am and Friday January 1, 9.00am, GREENhouse, Woodfordia. ‘Native Bee Constructions and Solitary Habitats’, join Tim Heard on an exploratory walk through Woodfordia, observing the often unseen bee species in their natural and man-made habitats. Meet at the Greenhouse venue. Monday December 28, Wednesday December 30, both 8.00am, GREENhouse, Woodfordia.
The line-up of past speakers has been consistently impressive with the previous iteration of the Woodford Folk Festival, (2014-15) programming Tim Cope, National Geographic Adventure Honoree 2008, Australian Adventurer of the year 2006, author, film maker, guide, presenter and collaborator, as indicated in Tim’s post on January 6 after the event… “I was fortunate to collaborate during one of my presentations in the Folklorica tent with Arash Zaganeh, who plays the Daf drum – an ancient Iranian drum associated with sufism and found throughout the Middle East, Persia and parts of Central Asia. …For my talk he
WOODFORD SPEAKER FLASHBACK ABOVE: Tim Cope with ‘Rusty’ one of his Mongolian horses at Blue Lake near the 3000m Kharkhiraa pass in Western Mongolia. These are the beginning of the Altai Mountains. Photo by Tim Cope, courtesy Woodford Folk Festival 2014-15. The above image appears on the cover of Tim Cope’s book On the Trail of Genghis Khan, An Epic Journey through the Lands of the Nomads, Bloomsbury Press, 2013. An Australian bestseller and winner of numerous awards. Tim posted on social media in August, 2013 “I would like to dedicate the book to my animals, who were on the frontline of my journey…”
played a 7/8 rhythm which reflects the bactrian camels walking stride”. www.timcopejourneys.com This is but a glimpse of the inspirations to be found at Woodford Folk Festival which runs every year from December 27 through to January 1 as an annual six day and night event including numerous genres and art forms. Woodford is an half hour inland drive from QSEC, Queensland State Equestrian Centre,which is on the outskirts of Caboolture and while we have never measured the timeframe it takes on horseback, QSEC patrons will no doubt know the answer.
DRESS-UPS
MASK-MAKERS Wintercroft Design Ltd My name is Steve Wintercroft and I live with my wife Marianne and our two children in Cornwall in South West England. My wife and I design and sell templates and instructions that enable our customers to make amazing LowPolygon Masks from waste card. We have been supplying unique masks to creative people and festival goers around the globe since 2013 and regularly collaborate with international musicians, artists, fashion designers, photographers, and animal welfare campaigners. Our Low poly Face Mask is appearing in the current series of “Homeland”
We have been working with a number of international conservation charities working on project that range from salmon to rainforest conservation. This summer we supported a conservation based festival in Borneo (www.futurealamborneo.org/) and we a currently working with the charity “Helping Rhinos” www.helpingrhinos.org/
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When you create an object you make thousands of choices, most of them are small and unconscious but every one of them is personal and unique to you. Thousands of
We now have over 50 mask designs including the 8 new ones that we have just released for Halloween. Our masks are getting more sophisticated in both the look and way that they are constructed but at the core they still have the same accessibility and ease of build. We now have masks with moving parts including an elephant with an articulated truck and a pair of wearable dragon claws! The new dragon and claws are one of my personal favourites. We recently released a new range of Low-Poly jewellery inspired by our mask designs which are proving to be very popular, and we have been working with a UK based publisher on a range of mask books. The first two of which
Photo by Kyla Fearless Photography
The original inspiration for our business came out of necessity. I’d been invited to a friend’s Halloween party, struggling to come up with a suitable costume and short of time I raided the recycling bin for card. After gathering together some waste card, a roll of packing tape and a knife I set to work building a mask. Everyone at the party loved the mask so we developed the idea of supplying a product that would help other people to make their own masks. We spent a lot of time refining
I have a strong belief that making things is a very valuable part of being human, it enriches our lives and gives us control over the objects that we surround ourselves with. Some people are not naturally gifted makers but with the right tools and guidance anyone can make something of beauty and value.
people have built masks from our templates and each mask is in some way different and bares the marks and choices of the individual that made it.
Photo by Kyla Fearless Photography
Here is a link to the homeland trailer: https://youtu.be/3yBHxsTnIXg. Our mask is shown in the trailer at around 1:44 min.
the design and working on the format of the product delivery to make the mask as accessible and easy to build as possible. We love spontaneous creativity so it was important for our customers to have instant access to the templates and instructions. This means that having chosen a mask they can download, print and be building it within minutes.
will be the Fox and Skull which were released on November 5 2015. We have put a lot into these books and I am very proud of what we have achieved.
OTHER MEDIA LINKS:
YOU CAN VIEW OUR BOOKS HERE:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ video/2015/jul/14/anti-foxhuntingcampaigners-protest-parliamentvideo?CMP=embed_video
http://wintercroft.com/collections/books So what do we do from here? We keep supplying our customers with the tools that they need to make amazing things. We have some very exciting ideas in development for 2016.
Below are links to info about a high profile anti-fox hunting protest that our masks were used in.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ fashion/features/steve-wintercrofts-foxmasks-stole-the-show-at-this-weeks-antihunting-demonstrations-10391614.html
DON’T MISS! CATS | Melbourne from December 18, Brisbane from January 29, www.catsthemusical.com/australia Delta Goodrem as Grizabella, Photographer Will Braden.
OUR SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: http://wintercroft.com/ https://instagram.com/wintercroft/ https://www.facebook.com/wintercroftmasks https://uk.pinterest.com/wintercroft/ https://twitter.com/Wintercroft
Photos courtesy Steve Wintercroft unless otherwise noted.
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SNAPCHAT
BEAUTY, NOT BEAST Photographer Sophie Gamand has not only found friends in the misunderstood Pit Bull, a sometimes banned and exploited breed in her United States surrounds; she also has a legion of fans and followers, not least on her social media accounts, championing her cause to re-think these pooches through the power of portraiture. Sophie started her Flower Power Portraits project in 2014, adorning Pit Bull dogs with halo-like garlands to soften the image in their quest for a home. This is how art transforms the world, helping us to see the image of this often maligned breed in a whole new light. In the process, these personality-plus rescue dogs are finding forever homes with happy endings. Sophie has shared some profiles on her portrait sitters and their status, current at the time of eARTh e-mag going to publication.
Aphrodite Aphrodite is a 2.5 year old Pit Bull mix who was found tied up with a prong collar embedded into her neck. The poor baby still has some scarring on her neck from the horrific incident but despite her past, has a sweet personality wanting to give kisses and play fetch (she adores tennis balls), and would benefit from consistent training. She would be best suited with an experienced owner in a mature home. Aphrodite is spayed, dewormed, treated to prevent fleas and ticks and is up-to-date with vaccinations. Her adoption fee is US$300.00, plus $8.50 for the dog license if you are a resident of NYC, and she’ll get one free exam at our vet’s office, one free month of pet health insurance and a microchip. Aphrodite is available to foster or
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Aphrodite
Ivy
SOPHIE’S 2016 FLOWER POWER CALENDAR IS AVAILABLE IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS, PLEASE HELP SUPPORT THE PROJECT www.lulu.com/shop/sophie-gamand/flower-power-calendar-2016/calendar/product-22374681.html
for adoption via Sean Casey Animal Rescue – www.nyanimalrescue.org If you are interested please email foster@nyanimalrescue.org alternatively call or visit at Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn near the F train (Ft Hamilton Pkwy). Open Daily from 11am to 7pm. Sean Casey Animal Rescue, 153 E. 3 St. between Ft Hamilton Pkwy & Caton Ave Brooklyn, NY 11218 718.436.5163
Ivy In July, in the scorching heat of the American summer, Redemption Rescues was called and asked if they could take in Ivy, a young mama who had just given birth to nine pups in a backyard in Far Rockaway. Although one of the owners was considering keeping them, they knew the puppies were in danger: people were lurking around their property to steal them. Even worse, the owner believed someone had brought their dog into his backyard while Ivy was in heat to impregnate her. This is why spay and neuter is SO important! She is just one year old! He finally
agreed to surrender the puppies and Ivy to the rescue. She was still living in the backyard, nursing her puppies, in unbearable heat. 24 hours later the rescue went to pick them all up. Much to their dismay, they arrived to mom and only eight puppies. The owner said someone had already stolen one. The group took the pups to the vet, and into foster care, where they still are. Ivy and her babies are up for adoption. Puppies usually fly out, and mommies are often left behind. Maybe this time we can change that? Mama Ivy is a baby herself at one year old but has been a great, attentive mom to her pups. She is such a sweetheart. So affectionate and gentle. To know her is to absolutely love her. When she is not tending to her babies she enjoys curling up in your lap for a head scratch. She is really sweet, inquisitive and devoted. Ivy is great with other dogs and can be adopted within two hours of NYC. Available via www.redemptionrescues.org More info: www.redemptionrescues.org/ adoption-blog/2015/8/5/ivyand-her-8-pups
Kato
Prada
Adam and Henry Both puppies were part of Ivy’s litter and have been adopted.
Kato I’m super smart and know how to sit, lay down, and even give high paws. I’m so sweet, love to play and cuddle and am super-chilled. I can’t wait to meet you, my forever family. Kato was in a foster home for a weekend. Here’s what our volunteer had to say: During Kato’s overnight stay in our home he was the perfect gentlemen. When introduced to the apartment he was extremely excited to play with all of his new toys. He entertained himself for awhile with a bouncy ball, throwing it for himself and running after it, all the while with the biggest grin on his
face. After his initial excitement passed I brought him into the bathroom to get him squeaky clean! Kato sat quietly while I scrubbed him down and when it was time for him to get dried off he couldn’t get enough of the towel. He was feeling playful when he got out of his bath so we went for a walk outside. On his walk Kato stayed next to me, walking quietly, never pulling or stopping abruptly when he saw other dogs. After our walk, Kato sat down nicely while we ate dinner, he didn’t jump or whine once! Later we relaxed on the couch and turned on a movie, Kato hopped up and laid down next to me, where he stayed until the movie was done. We went for our last walk of the night and then got into bed. If you’re looking for a big dog to snuggle with look no further! Kato slept the entire night curled up next to me in bed.
owner anytime soon. So Prada is officially ours, and we officially need to find her a FOREVER HOME! Prada knows multiple commands already, is playful with toys and displayed no issues with people near her food. She is friendly and very playful with other dogs! We are recommending her for a home with teens and up. This beauty, weighing in at 80 pounds also loves belly rubs and will lay at your feet to get one! Prada definitely needs a change of luck, and we are really hoping this is her last stay with us. Please ask to meet Prada today, you won’t be disappointed! Available via Hempstead Town Animal Shelter http://toh.li/animal-shelter
Kato was an absolute treat to have in our home! Kato is the type of dog that would be perfect for a family. He’s playful enough to be fun for children yet calm enough to be able to relax and lay down when necessary. It broke my heart to return Kato to the shelter after his stay but I know that he will be adopted soon because he is too perfect not to be! available via Animal Haven www.animalhavenshelter.org/site/News2?pag e=NewsArticle&id=10119&news_iv_ctrl=1022
www.SophieGamand.com
Prada
Adam
Henry
Prada, unfortunately, is a familiar face around here. This three year old beauty came to us in 2014 after her owner was arrested. She stayed with us a few months, before being returned to her owner. She is back now, and it doesn’t look like she is going back to her
Contact details Follow Sophie on Twitter and Instagram: @SophieGamand www.facebook.com/ sophiegamandphotography Campaign hashtag on social media: #PitBullFlowerPower
All photographs by Sophie Gamand.
Behind-the-Scenes, from top to bottom: Lola from Rebound Hounds yawns as her foster dad helps positioning her. A shelter staff member at Animal Haven helps secure Aloha’s crown. The founders of the rescue group Mr Bones & Co. kiss Kona, a heroin overdose survivor.
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Join performance art specialists, academics and artists as they consider the breadth of contemporary performance art in the Asia Pacific region, and the wide ranging issues and con-texts it contends with. Hosted by Aaron Seeto, Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art, QAGOMA, this forum will investigate the prevalence of performance practice in contemporary art. GOMA | Cinema B | Free, no bookings required | Brisbane, Australia
DECEMBER 27, 2015 – JANUARY 1, 2016
MARCH 18 – JUNE 5
30TH WOODFORD FOLK FESTIVAL, AUSTRALIA
20TH BIENNALE OF SYDNEY
https://woodfordfolkfestival.com/
THROUGH APRIL 10
2016 APT8 THE 8TH ASIA PACIFIC TRIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART QAGOMA [Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art]; Sunday February 21, 2.30pm Special APT8 Live Event Live Discussion Forum: Performance and Contemporary Art.
The Future Is already Here – It’s Just Not Evenly Distributed is the Biennale theme, inspired by a quote from leading science fiction author, William Gibson. Various ‘Embassies of Thought’ can be visited around the city such as The Embassy of Disappearance at Carriageworks where artists explore themes of disappearance, including disappearing histories and landscapes. https://www.biennaleofsydney.com.au/20bos/venues/ carriageworks/ The Embassy of Transition will host a bird installation by British artist Marco Chiandetti to illustrate issues around displacement and discrimination.
Left: Marco Chiandetti | Sculpture for a Bird (African Grey Parrot), 2015, ceramic, African grey parrot, 12 x 12 x 23 cm. Right: Marco Chiandetti | Sculpture for a Bird (Barn Owl), 2015, ceramic, barn owl, 14 x 15 x 19 cm. Photographs by Willem-Dirk du Toit | Courtesy the Artist.
April 29 – May 1
THE PLANTING, WOODFORDIA QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA www.theplantingfestival.com
Through February 15 , 2016
VAI NIU WAI NIU | COCONUT WATER | CABOOLTURE REGIONAL ART GALLERY
Chantal Fraser | It Hangs with Rattlesnakes and Rubbish (detail) 2012, video still, courtesy of the Artist and Spiro Grace Art Rooms
Kabi Kabi country in SE Queensland, Australia, plays host to VAI NIU WAI NIU | Coconut Water, a specially curated exhibition described in the catalogue essay by Leuli Mazya Luna’l Eshraghi as a gathering of “knowledges, languages and embodied practices with strong ties to the Moananuiakea – the Great Ocean of Wakea in ‘Olelo Hawai’i language”. It is where Maori, Samoan and English languages come together to address marginalised histories through three thematic components titled as ‘holding bodies that know’, ‘unsettling the plantations’ and ‘the ancestors return’. A variety of work is presented including moving image by Salote Tawale, which highlights media misrepresentation of tropical notions on femininity and sexuality. As a result, Coconut as a staple in daily life is morphed into a symbol of the exotic, the restorer of health and a sign of wealth belying those origins of European settlement and colonisation in the military and civilian outposts of the various empires of Britain, France, Germany, America, Holland, Portugal, Spain and Japan. The Artists’ investigations and works range from performances of masculinity to delicate weaving of photographs and handmade aloha shirts. Standout are the powerful sugar skull installations by Jasmine Togo-Brisby and Stevie Fieldsend’s draped glass works over individual charred trunks of timber as a conceptual offering, communicating multiple tensions of loss, memory, protection and family. Selected artists include Torika Bolatagici, Eric Bridgeman, Stevie Fieldsend, Chantal Fraser, Taloi Havini, Lisa Hilli, Cecilia Kavara Verran, Kirsten Lyttle, Salote Tawale, Latai Taumoepeau, Angela Tiatia, Jasmine Togo-Brisby and James Tylor. Drawing on these culturally diverse artists and their concerns, the exhibition is anchored through Māori, Sāmoan and English languages.
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NEXT ISSUE ’TIS THE SEASON as the eARTh e-mag team head into the festivities of camping out at the international Woodford Folk Festival, there we take the opportunity to plan our now twice-yearly editions of May and November 2016, while plotting our piloting of off-shoot eARThYZine for YZ Gen in THEIR environs, via Tumblr and print form, seasonally, from mid 2016. NEXT EDITION #9 of eARTh e-mag in May 2016 is titled ‘Eats | Roots & Leaves – Objets trouvés’ where we will be traversing gardens, all things botanical and edible, culinary and floral arts, foraging for found objects and upcycling. Edition #10 of November 2016 entitled ‘Walk the Line’, will be themed around peripatetic artists, all about mobility, transitioning and the leg work required to support the environment through the arts, perhaps even with a roving or guest editor. Edition #11 of May 2017 is ‘The Board Meeting – Eco Corporate Culture’.
Above from left: Zandalee Youth Advisor of eARThYZine attends the media preview of APT8 at QAGOMA. eARTh e-mag takes shameless selfies with mates at ‘The Space’ North Lakes with Zandalee at front, Sandi eARTh e-mag back right, Katie advocate for Meloo Photography (left), and Chris of Monte Kids (centre). Meloo photography showcasing youth in natural environs of SE Qld.
THE YEAR THAT WAS found us covering a range of events from the Meloo Photography gallery night #MMSGALLERYNIGHT at The Space, North Lakes to APT8 at QAGOMA, State Library of Queensland’s Brisbane Writer’s Festival talks and exhibitions to The Edge’s offerings from Minicomicon through to the University of Queensland Masters Architecture ‘Crop’15’ impressive exhibition night; eARTh e-mag got very grassroots with three days at the Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show, and the debut of the Brisbane International Garden Show on the tail of several days at the Queensland Garden Expo; the ‘Bee Gees Way’, Stage Two at the
Interested advertisers and gifters are encouraged to contact goodwill producer Sandi of Conte Creative Concepts at s_conte@bigpond.net.au to discuss partnership opportunities with both publications of eARTh and eARThYZine.
Redcliffe Festival and the launch of a new university precinct purchased by Moreton Bay Regional Council, the site borne of an obsolete paper mill in Strathpine Australia is now aligned to the University of the Sunshine Coast as its Moreton Campus; all this activity saw us flitting between our inner city Studio 4 to the Base Camp 104 in the Glass House Mountains. There was the facilitation of stingless bee conversations with inventors, artists and schools and we covered a wealth of concerts, public conversations and forums. NO MATTER THE TOWN, STATE OR COUNTRY YOU ARE IN, if it is about either the intersect of art and environment or young people making a difference from their environment and point of view, do let us know about that event, activity or person and eARTh e-mag and/or eARThYZine will do their best to cover the moment.
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We’re particularly interested in Gen YZ contributing to a better world, ranging from young researchers to creatives from all walks of life.
COMING UP in 2016 the two publications will cover a variety of events from the Biennale of Sydney, opening in March 2016 to The Planting of April/May and also the launch of eARThYZine.
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eARThYZine and eARTh hatch projects from Studio 4 in the Moreton Bay region.
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LAST WORD It has been ten years since intrepid photographer Tony Bee lay down his camera and tripod for the last time. A gathering of family, friends and clients, converged in 2015 to commemorate a decade of Tony’s passing with the exhibition he always dreamed of having entitled ‘Out of the fog’, hosted by his wife Donna and two now grown sons. eARTh e-mag was honoured to be present and part of the immersive display. Tony’s huge passion for photography was ignited as a teen and he would go on to work as a photographic assistant for some of Australia’s finest photographers in Sydney. Commissioned to work as a commercial, corporate and advertising photographer, Tony took up many world assignments as well as opening his own photographic gallery. Extensive travel across Australia for three continuous years in a blue Kombi brought variety with assignments including work on the America’s Cup. In 2002 Tony opened his Captive Inspirations Gallery in the historic Brisbane Arcade; 2004 heralded a second Captive Inspirations Gallery in Montville. To date, Tony’s photography has been acquired in 32 countries. Hand-signed originals, are now in limited stock with photos requiring a computer signature given Tony’s life ended in 2005, leaving a legacy of captured memories and creative inspirations.
Top: Gostwyck Chapel, Uralla NSW. All photographs by Tony Bee (who is pictured far right).
While Tony rarely photographed animals, Pelicans were represented in his oeuvre with the single pelican portrait above available in poster form, kindly offered to eARTh e-mag readers for purchase at $25.00 including delivery within Australia. The other pelican image is a limited edition not found on Tony’s ‘Captive Inspirations’ website www.captiveinspirations.com.au In eARTh e-mag’s publication release during the lead-up to Christmas, Tony’s wife Donna suggested Gostwyck Chapel also be shown as another limited edition work. Located between Tamworth and Armidale along the New England Highway, Australia, fog and virginia creeper entomb this quaint old chapel at Gostwyck, while the surrounding elm trees are an added attraction in full Autumn bloom.
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