Bimblebox Art Projects
Under One Sky
Bimblebox art, science and nature camp, 2016, photo Tangible Media.
The Bimblebox Art Project was begun in 2012 by artist Jill Sampson, who continued to act as co-ordinator. It has aimed to generate creative engagement with and to document the Bimblebox Nature Refuge. Art/science/nature camps, exhibitions, writing, music and academic research have been some of the outcomes from this project.
Bimblebox art, science and nature camps
Bronwyn McKean, Bimblebox Nature Refuge art, science, nature camp 2023. Artwork: The Land Parcel, 2023, recycled papers & earth pigments. Photo: Malcolm Paterson.
Creating the opportunity for artists to immerse themselves in the Bimblebox Nature Refuge to develop artwork was the driving idea behind this art project. They were open to anyone interested in exploring the environment and biodiversity of Bimblebox.
Annual Bimblebox art, science and nature camps were held from 2012 to 2017. In 2018, deepening drought conditions cancelled that year’s camp, while subsequent years saw continuing drought and then covid19, keeping the camp on pause.
In 2020, the Bimblebox Alliance raised funds to upgrade camp facilities, and in 2022, the camps resumed. We held a camp in 2022 and then in 2023.
Artwork, poetry, writing, essays, photography and much else have resulted in a body of diverse, cultural material that documents and explores the Bimblebox Nature Refuge. Issues such as biodiversity loss, food security, water use and climate change have been explored, as well as creatively celebrating the vibrancy of life that currently thrives on the Bimblebox Nature Refuge.
Thank you to all those who have participated in the Bimblebox art, science, nature camps since they began in 2012. Currently the camps are on pause and at this stage, we are unable to determine when they will return.
Robyn Adams, artist and landowner in the Desert Uplands, has expressed her interest to Paola to start a similar camp on her property, Stratford Station near Barcaldine. https://stratfordcountry.com.au/
If you are interested in visiting the Bimblebox Nature Refuge, please email Paola at bimblebox@gmail.com
Exhibitions developed by the Bimblebox Art Project
Bimblebox 153 Birds (current)
Bimblebox 153 Birds at Webb Gallery, Griffith University, 2019, photo S. Mardon
Bimblebox 153 Birds is a unique exhibition installation inspired by the birdlife of the Bimblebox Nature Refuge. Each species of bird living on Bimblebox has been allocated its own artist, writer and musician. More than 450 people worldwide have contributed artist prints, poetry, prose and musical birdcall compositions, resulting in a visual and soundscape installation.
Bimblebox 153 Birds enthrals gallery visitors who love being surrounded by birds, sparking stories and conversations. It’s the story of our birds, how we experience them and sadly how we could lose them.
Curator: Jill Sampson (https://jillsampson.com/)
Audio compilation and mixing by Boyd
Bimblebox 153 Birds is available for touring, contact birds153@bigpond.com
Bimblebox: art – science – nature (past)
Bimblebox: art – science – nature at Redland Art Gallery, 2014, photo Carl Warner.
Bimblebox: art – science – nature
2014 – 2017, National Touring Exhibition
Curated by Beth Jackson
Bimblebox: art – science – nature was a touring exhibition about the Bimblebox Nature Refuge, its environmental, social and scientific significance and an artist group’s creative response to their experience of this unique and threatened environment. The exhibition was rich, dynamic and diverse and included artworks in installation, works on paper, painting, artist books, photography, digital media and sound. Curated by Beth Jackson from a project initiated by artist Jill Sampson (Bimblebox Art Project), the exhibition also incorporated aspects of scientific and environmental research and social history of the site, together with a catalogue and education kit in digital and print media.
Research:
The Depiction of Environment Through Art
The role of exhibited environmental art in public engagement with environmental sustainability: a case study of the Bimblebox art-science-nature exhibition. (July 2018)
by Andrew Nicholson, University of New England (UNE)
This research project centred on a case study of the Bimblebox: art – science – nature touring exhibition, and associated media. The research project commenced in February 2016 and was completed in 2018.
Nicholson’s research explores the capacity of environmental arts advocacy to close a challenging communication gap. This gap exists on the one hand between conventional forms of environmental and climate science communication to citizens and communities. And on the other hand – the urgently needed and more effective level of practical engagement required from those communities in order to help them respond more effectively to the growing challenges posed by human-caused climate change, loss of animals and plants, loss of groundwater and productive soils, and a host of other human-produced impacts on the natural world.
Archival Collection
The State Library of Queensland holds a developing collection for the Bimblebox Art Project that will be able to be used for future study and reference.
The collection includes:
- Ephemera from the exhibitions
- Articles
- Photos
- Artist book by Gerald Soworka
- Artist book of poetry by Beth Jackson
Articles:
You can find further links to media articles, art reviews and other writing at: https://bimbleboxartproject.com/