Mariw Minaral (Spiritual Patterns)
Free | Visual Arts & Installations
How do we mourn and remember the inestimable loss - of animals, of flora, of ecological worlds - wrought by the black summer fires of 2019-2020? Curated by artist Janet Laurence, Requiem weaves together visual art, music, poetry, performance, literature, science, philosophy and environmental advocacy to craft a time-space for us to lament and be present to the reality of the loss. What does this loss mean for Australia’s unique and precious environment?
Within the ethereal inner chamber of the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, the installations and program of events return us to the aesthetics and ethics of care and healing such that we might cultivate a renewed encounter with and commitment to our shared nature.
All events are free, but some require registration. Links can be found below.
ARTWORK INSTALLATIONS AND INTERVENTIONS
16–24 JANUARY
11am–7pm daily
Across the duration of the Requiem program, artworks are installed within the ethereal inner chamber of the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, foregrounding an aesthetics of care. This includes works by Tony Albert, Dirt Witches, Charles Dove, Juz Kitson, Janet Laurence, Joan Ross, Yasmin Smith, and a nursery of living plants sourced from Mt Annan Botanic Gardens. Each of these installations offers a tribute to Australian flora and fauna, including Smith's ceramic branches that have been glazed with ash from a burnt red gum and Laurence’s laboratory of bushfire-affected waters and attendant activists.
Requiem will also involve a number of spontaneous interventions, including performers appearing within the chamber to sing a mournful lament, dance a slow pas seul, or hold a quiet meditation. The Tree Veneration Society and the Red Rebels will also have a presence in the gardens of the Reservoir.
DAY 1 SAT 16 JANUARY
Smoking Ceremony
With Yarning Australia and Oliver Costello of the Firesticks Alliance
2–5pm
DAY 2 SUN 17 JANUARY
Rescript – Julie Vulcan
Presented by the Sydney Environment Institute
12–3pm
A ritual for living and ongoing connection.
A muslin handkerchief. A knot to remember. A name. A loved one returned. Ash as rescript. Temporarily transporting ash from the land of her post-fire home Julie creates a space to honour the loss of non-human life during the black summer fires while acknowledging new beginnings.
Sydney Environment Institute Panel – What caused the fires?
4–5.30pm
As the mega-fires of the black summer were devastating ecologies and the homes and habitats of animals (including humans) across south-east Australia, theories about what caused them and accusations of who was responsible for them raged across the social and media landscape. The fossil fuel industry and the political right promoted theories about arsonists and greenies allegedly getting in the way of ‘backburning’; scientists, ecologists and communities on the ground who had been living with the realities of the drought insisted that the fires were the acute and violent expression of climate change. This panel will try to make sense of what caused the fires, where responsibility for them lies, what exacerbated the vulnerability of those whose lives they destroyed, and most importantly, what we can do to protect all lives in a world where climate change makes wildfires an ever present threat.
Speakers
DAY 3 MON 18 JANUARY
Charlie Chan and James Beck
5–6.30pm
The original composition ‘Meet Me Under the Dome’ is a collaboration between composer Charlie Chan and cellist James Beck from the Sydney Art Quartet, inspired by the work of sculptor Alex Seton. The piece is a work of tonal minimalism, and was created in the Wombeyan quarry where Seton sources his marble, surrounded by the sparse blackened forest where the Green Wattle Creek fire began.
DAY 4 TUE 19 JANUARY
Botanical Talk
5pm–6pm
Join Editor of Planthunter Georgina Reid and and Chief Botanist of the Royal Botanic Gardens Brett Summerell for a talk amidst a nursery of plants from the Australian Botanic Gardens in Mount Annan. Composed of seedlings, tube stock and saplings of the many species that have been threatened by the bushfires, the installation and accompanying talks will encourage not only a sense of memorial, but also of renewal. The nursery has been assembled with the assistance of Director of Horticulture, John Siemon, and the Garden’s Horticulture and Science teams.
DAY 5 WED 20 JANUARY
Poetry Performances
Presented by the Sydney Environment Institute and Red Room Poetry
4–5.30pm
Part of what we face as we contemplate the black summer fires is the limit of our own capacity to be present to the magnitude of the losses, the thoughts and the feelings they provoke in us. It is to this impossibility of containing the worlds beyond of and beyond our experience, and to our own complex, fragmented and often strange thoughts and feelings that poetry speaks. Chaired by Luke Fischer, Australian poets Michelle Cahill, Brenda Saunders, David Brooks, Felicity Plunkett, Coco Huang, Lyndsay Urquhart and Viv Pham will offer their poetic witness of the black summer fires, to the beings who lived and died through them, and to our struggle to be present and receptive to the three billion whose shouts we did not hear.
Christina Christensen: cello soloist
4–5.30pm
Renowned cellist Christina Christensen will be performing compositions addressed to trees between poetry readings. Christensen is an internationally recognised musician who composes for both film and solo cello performances that are inspired by nature.
DAY 6 THU 21 JANUARY
Garden Performance Hommage by Tree Veneration Society
2:30pm
Artists of the Tree Veneration Society pay respect to trees through a mesmerising intervention called "Hommage". By acknowledging the life sustaining attributes they offer human and non human species alike, we are reminded that the continuation on earth is dependent upon trees.
Hommage will start at Oxford St, corner Moore Park Rd at 2pm, walking down Oxford St to the Paddington Reservoir.
Groundswell Event – Voices from the Frontline
3–4.40pm
‘Voices from the Frontline’ shares first-hand experiences from affected communities about the impacts of the fires on wildlife and the natural world. The panel discussion draws together knowledge from Indigenous Elders, veterinarians, and firefighters, and is hosted by Groundswell, a new giving circle created in response to the climate crisis. Groundswell supports accelerated action and environmental solutions by funding high-impact climate advocacy in Australia.
Speakers
Lille Madden, proud Arrernte, Bundjalung and Kalkadoon woman from Gadigal country, climate justice advocate, Groundswell First Nations advisor and Seed Mob Sydney coordinator
Greg Mullins, Former NSW Fire Commissioner, Emergency Leaders for Climate Action
Fiona Lee, Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action organiser, community development worker, visual artist, and mother
Jazz Money, Award winning poet, filmmaker and educator of Wiradjuri heritage currently based on the beautiful land of the Gundungurra and Darug nations
Kai Wild, climbing arborist, conservationist, wildlife rescue worker on Kangaroo Island after 19/20 fires
Artology presents – William Barton and Véronique Serret
6–7pm
William Barton and Véronique Serret’s collaborative performance involves the unique storytelling and soulful pairing of didgeridoo and violin. Specially commissioned for the ‘Bush Requiem’ by Artology, Barton and Serret co-write a deeply affective tribute to the Australian landscape and present an inimitable performance that traces important new songlines.
“A new work that encapsulates the very essence of the Australian landscape. Our source of inspiration and coming together in recognition of the elements of the earth. The trees, the rivers, the replenishing and renewal of country. Song lines of mother country.Our ways, our cultural heritage, our language as an identity for all Australians moving forward united. One people.”
This performance is free, but booking is required.
DAY 7 FRI 22 JANUARY
Groundswell Event – Caring for Country: Storytelling for Kids with Lille Madden
11am–12pm
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been caring for country sustainably since time immemorial. Families are invited to join proud Arrernte, Bundjalung and Kalkadoon woman Lille Madden for an hour of storytelling to learn more about the rich history, culture and knowledge of Australia’s First People, and the ways we can all be custodians for our country into the future.
Sydney Environment Institute Panel – An Endangered Menagerie
4–5.30pm
Alongside the incredible loss of plant and animal lives in the 2019-2020 bushfire season, a range of endangered species were pushed closer to the edge of extinction. As the impacts of climate change intensify into the future, it is likely that fire will play an ever more significant role in the ongoing loss of species in Australia. This panel brings together philosophers, writers, and scientists to explore the intersection between extinction and bushfire in this country. In a series of six short reflections (five minutes), each speaker will focus on a single plant or animal species, drawing out the particularities of this threatened life form and what is precious and significant about it. The panel will conclude with a round table discussion and Q&A with the audience.
Speakers
Wild Australia: After the Fires Film Screening
6–7pm
Wild Australia: After the Fires is a documentary that charts the recovery of wildlife in the aftermath of Australia's catastrophic bushfires through stories of hope and resilience. Narrated by Hugo Weaving, the film provides an urgent message to safeguard our environment. Courtesy of Northern Pictures.
DAY 8 SAT 23 JANUARY
Water Bar Talk: Bruce Shillingsworth
12pm
Muruwari and Budjiti artist and Water for the Rivers activist Bruce Shillingsworth speaks about preserving the integrity of the rivers on which First Nations people depend for their life and livelihood. His talk will be in the context of Janet Laurence’s Water Bar; a glassy, glistening installation of waters from bushfire-affected regions. Together, Shillingsworth and the Water Bar help us to better understand the complexity and fragility of this vital resource.
Bruce Shillingsworth's country is the north-west NSW river lands that hug the Namoi, Barwon, Darling Rivers; Brewarrina, Bourke, Enngonia, Wilcannia and Walgett. His family are painters, dancers and rainmakers.
Song of the Earth – Benoît Deney
3pm
Baritone singer Benoît Deney performs a cappella, filling the inner chamber with a resonant and mournful song. For this wandering performance, excerpts from Gustav Mahler's "Song of the Earth" are woven into his “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” (I am lost to the world).
Artology presents – William Barton and Véronique Serret
6–7pm
William Barton and Véronique Serret’s collaborative performance involves the unique storytelling and soulful pairing of didgeridoo and violin. Specially commissioned for the ‘Bush Requiem’ by Artology, Barton and Serret co-write a deeply affective tribute to the Australian landscape and present an inimitable performance that traces important new songlines.
“A new work that encapsulates the very essence of the Australian landscape. Our source of inspiration and coming together in recognition of the elements of the earth. The trees, the rivers, the replenishing and renewal of country. Song lines of mother country.Our ways, our cultural heritage, our language as an identity for all Australians moving forward united. One people.”
This performance is free, but booking is required.
DAY 9 SUN 24 JANUARY
Water Bar Talk: Bruce Shillingsworth
12pm
Muruwari and Budjiti artist and Water for the Rivers activist Bruce Shillingsworth speaks about preserving the integrity of the rivers on which First Nations people depend for their life and livelihood. His talk will be in the context of Janet Laurence’s Water Bar; a glassy, glistening installation of waters from bushfire-affected regions. Together, Shillingsworth and the Water Bar help us to better understand the complexity and fragility of this vital resource.
Bruce Shillingsworth's country is the north-west NSW river lands that hug the Namoi, Barwon, Darling Rivers; Brewarrina, Bourke, Enngonia, Wilcannia and Walgett. His family are painters, dancers and rainmakers.
'Myosotis' – her requiem
The Living Room Theatre feat. Danielle Celermajer
4.30pm–5pm and 6.30pm–7pm
Finding sense in the face of grief. Merging story with a double bass ensemble, 'Myosotis' - her requiem, asks us to sit within grief, to remember the non-human bodies lost in the 2019/20 fires. A plea to never forget that their lives are a legacy of our inaction.
Sydney Environment Institute Panel – Entanglements
5–6.30pm
The impacts of the fires of black summer fell unevenly on different human, animal and plant lives, but they also exposed the shared vulnerabilities of all living beings and ecosystems, and our many entanglements. Never has it been clearer that we humans are embedded in, and ‘in this together’ with all other earth beings. As loss proliferated, we all confronted the truth that the condition for human life, and beyond this, the possibility of meaning in our lives rests on the worlds in which we are embedded. That humans and the more-thanhuman world do not exist in distinct and separate realms is inherent to the philosophies and lifeways of many peoples, including those of the First Peoples of this nation. The speakers on this panel will share their understandings and practices of what it means to live in and of an entangled world.
Speakers
Dirt Witches
From 7pm
The Dirt Witches are a collective who stand up against acts of systemic environmental destruction through creative expression, honouring our deep relationship to perform a contemporary, environmentalist incantation in memory of the bushfires, accompanied by baritone soloist Benoît Deney.
VenuePerformance Times11am–7pm
Ticketing and PricingAccessibilityThe Inner chamber of the Paddington Reservoir Gardens is accessible via lift.
Important InfoFace masks are mandatory at all Sydney Festival events for all patrons 13 years and older, in line with NSW Government regulations. A face mask is required at all times while inside foyers, theatres and outdoor venues, including during performances. Children 12 and under are exempt but are encouraged to wear masks where practicable.
Cast and CreditsArtology
Artology supports the commission and premiere of William Barton and Véronique Serret’s ‘Bush Requiem’. Artology promotes creativity by developing and implementing creative projects for writers, composers, producers and directors.
Groundswell
Groundswell is a new Giving Circle created in response to the Climate Crisis, accelerating action and supporting solutions by funding high-impact climate advocacy in Australia. Our community will harness the power of collective giving to create a healthy, just and sustainable world.
Red Room Poetry
Red Room Poetry is Australia's leading organisation for commissioning, creating, publishing and promoting poetry in meaningful ways. Our poetic projects are created in collaboration with a spectrum of poets, communities and partners for positive impact in core areas of environment, amplification, First Nations, youth and marginalised voices.
The Living Room Theatre
The Living Room Theatre creates visceral theatrical experiences that confronts the pain and beauty of contemporary life and gives voice to those on the fringes.
The Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney
The Sydney Environment Institute is a national and world leader in multidisciplinary environmental research, known in particular for work in the environmental humanities and social sciences.
The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan
The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is Australia’s largest botanic garden that showcases the enormous diversity of Australian flora. Covering 416 hectares between Camden and Campbelltown in Sydney’s south-west, it is Australia’s largest botanic garden and houses to the award-winning Australian PlantBank.
Janet Laurence
Laurence is a leading Sydney-based artist who creates immersive environments that navigate the interconnections between organic elements and systems of nature. Through recognizing the threat of climate change, she explores what it might mean to heal, the natural environment, fusing this with a sense of communal loss and search for connection with powerful life-forces. Janet Laurence is represented by Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney, ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne, and Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide.
Danielle Celermajer is a writer and professor at the University of Sydney and convener of Multispecies Justice collective. In recent years, her work has turned from a focus on human rights and the violence and injustice perpetrated against other humans, to a broader consideration of intersection of human, animal and environmental justice, ethics and life. Through the experience of living through the black summer bushfires as part of a multispecies community, she began writing about a new crime of our age, omnicide. Her book, Summertime, written from the midst of the fires, will be published by Penguin in February 2021.
Michelle St Anne
Michelle St Anne is a multidisciplinary theatrical artist and co-founder and artistic director of The Living Room Theatre. A site-responsive artist whose immersive and intimate works eschew traditional narrative-driven performance, Michelle’s work is known for its unique, and often profound, audience engagement. Her extensive body of work is centred upon themes of violence, complicity and women’s bodies. Her stories are meted out through the elongation of time, using object and light; film and movement; body, sound and space. Michelle is a founding member and Deputy Director at the Sydney Environment Institute where she leads the multidisciplinary project, ‘Sites of Violence’.
Charles Dove
Charles Dove is a wildlife photographer who will present a new video projection in tribute to threatened Australian species. ‘Do you remember’ is a poignant record of the rare and endemic species that have been threatened and destroyed by the bushfire crisis.
Juz Kitson
Kitson’s corporeal installations encompass hand-crafted porcelain and collected materials, reflecting on human-animal relationships and conjuring new life. She explores both the seductive and grotesque elements of nature, provoking in audiences a deeply felt response to life, death and renewal. Juz Kitson is represented by Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane, and GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide.
Lille Madden
Madden is a proud Arrernte, Bundjalung and Kalkadoon woman from Gadigal country. She is the Sydney coordinator for Seed Mob, the Indigenous Youth Climate Coalition, and is a First Nations advisor and curator for Groundswell.
Yasmin Smith
Smith's practice is process based and research driven, straddling art, environmental science and geography. She uses organic materials such as plants, timbers, sand, salt and clays, to create site-derived ceramic installations presenting forms and chemical-glaze aesthetics as a representation of the combined human and environmental history of a particular site. Yasmin Smith is represented by The Commercial, Sydney.
William Barton and Véronique Serret
William Barton is one of Australia's leading didgeridoo players and composers. Born in Mount Isa, he was taught the instrument by his uncle, an elder of the Waanyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga tribes of western Queensland. Véronique Serret has established herself as a versatile musician whose repertoire ranges from
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