Balance - Unbalance 2013 : ARTS + SCIENCE x TECHNOLOGY = ENVIRONMENT/RESPONSIBILITY

The weekend just passed I attended an excellent conference in Noosa which ran from Friday through to Sunday evening bringing people from regional, interstate and overseas destinations:

Text from website:

Balance-Unbalance is a major International Conference designed to use art as a catalyst to explore intersections between nature, science, technology and society as we move into an era of both unprecedented ecological threats and transdisciplinary possibilities. 

Programs, Abstracts, full papers and flyers here.

The program can be read here.






Friday night was a Petchakucha session with 12 presenters.

I plan to write reflections on the conference and link various speakers so will return to link to that asap.

Conference Theme: Future Nature, Future Culture[s]

The 2013 conference theme: “Future Nature, Future Culture[s]” aims to challenge our expectations of Earth, provoke our understanding of nature and inspire our actions for a sustainable future.

What we will be calling nature in 20, 50 or 100 years? How we will live in the future? What do we foresee for the future of human kind? How could creativity help us shape a society of understanding and interconnectedness? What role could transdisciplinary thought and action play in reimaging a sustainable future? Will there be a future with peaceful knowledgeable societies and a rich variety of cultures? What can first nation knowledge teach us about our future? There are infinite questions and limited answers, but we have the opportunity to use our intelligence and creativity to make positive changes.

Visit the conference website to read more and Conference Facebook Page here to read posting before and after the event.

On Saturday morning I gave a 30 min artist talk introducing the 'homage to the seed' project which brought good exchanges and ongoing connections.

One of the participants I wished I'd heard speak was writer Maya Ward. I've posted up here book here which I'll look forward to reading.

The Comfort of Water

A River Pilgrimage

Maya Ward

This is the joyful yet heartbreaking true story of four friends who walk a 21- day pilgrimage from the sea to the source of Melbourne’s Yarra River. There is no path for most of the way, but offers of campsites and boats, and free access to private lands, illustrates the generosity shown to pilgrims even in modern times. Maya Ward’s lyrical exploration of her river as it winds through the city and the wild is a revelation, a testament to the fact that the greatest of worlds are often at our doorstep. Its author understands the power of the natural world to transform lives, and writes about the connection between a river and the self with humility, humour, and a clear-headed wisdom.

The telling of her own journey and that of her fellow walkers is seamlessly woven together with ecological and cultural history, the revelation of the pilgrim’s path and the unknowable depth of Aboriginal myth. Through trekking this Wurundjeri Songline, this ancient, ever-renewing river, she discovers rich possibilities of belonging, and shares how a river can nourish the passion and resilience required to transform our world.

Text and image found here:

At the end of this kind of event one can easily look back of over the program and regret not getting to various sessions. But the fact is the three days were intense, breaks were active conversational sessions, evenings busy and downtime not really to be found.

The opportunity to go to the Floating Land Festival was a welcome one... at Boreen Point the location was quiet and the rain holding of meant Saturday night's Opening Ceremony was excellent and the outdoor dinner at the waterfront most pleasant.

Image by Lisa Delanou found here. Floating Land is on till Sunday June 9th : Read more.

via Noosa Biosphere