THE WEYBA PROJECT

2012 - 2014

THE WEYBA PROJECT

In September 2012 I joined forces with non-profit community group Friends of Lake Weyba in a bid to save Lake Weyba in Queensland from a massive urban development. Our aim was to promote the social, cultural and environmental significance of the area through creative acts, a feel-good alternative to activism.

Over the year duration of The Weyba Project my involvement became multi-dimensional as I alternated through the duties of artist, activist, curator, promoter, researcher and artistic director. The project materialised into a series of local, national and international events, resulting in a campaign that captured the attention and support of the public through beneficial activities.

Detachment is a necessary evil. Emotion impairs good judgement. The enemy is calculating, cunning and cold. One year to learn the game. One year to beat the corporates.

In a bid to save a doomed lake in Queensland artist Bianca Tainsh joined forces with a throw together army of locals called Friends of Lake Weyba. With the aim of using creativity to power a feel-good form of activism the Friends found themselves in a battle where promotion and public popularity could just vanquish the big dollar clout of a cunning development company.

Exhausted Ideals uses video and installation to revisit a year of unexpected outcomes and personal trials. Utilising documentation Bianca re-presents her project through the eyes of the media, and examines what began as a political agenda but became a game in which lies, defamation and deceit versus arts shows, photo comps and the charms of a good looking environmental scientist.

Ongoing Project

The Weyba List of Species

Since March 2013 I have been compiling a list of species for Lake Weyba. The list has been informed through digital species searches, wildlife experts, the recollections of Weyba locals and vigorous fieldwork. It covers all creatures from amphibians to spiders and will be a continuing project as more species are added and more images contributed.

The images of Weyba species have been kindly contributed by Weyba locals and visitors. These images have become 'proof' of Weyba’s natural diversity and the abundance of endangered and threatened species on its shores and within its waters. This invitation to contribute has also offered a rewarding mode of involvement for the individuals who feel an attachment to Lake Weyba and have felt powerless against its current plight.

The Weyba List of Species was printed and installed for its first public viewing during At One with Weyba in June 2013. Throughout its exhibition the list was consistently updated with new data and images.

More recently the list was interpreted into video format and as an artist book for my exhibition installtions in Leipzig, Germany in July and September 2013.

In its final stage the list will become a permanent web resource available for public access and educational reference, and open for ongoing contributions of images, recollections and adjustments.

My hope is that along with uniting the community in a beneficial joint project, the list will provide strong evidence of Lake Weyba’s environmental significance, and stipulate the value of protecting it from being commodified for quick-profit, mass urban developments.

November 2012

The Arts on Weyba

Arts event created on site to showcase Lake Weyba's exceptional landscape and cultural significance through the exhibition of traditional and contemporary Weyba inspired art and a series of en plein air workshops, performances and bushwalks.

Directed & curated by Bianca Tainsh

David Armfield

Hal Barton

Lyndon Davis

Harry Donnelly

Rowley Drysdale

Robyn Fox

Judy Gymgell

Jordan Hoffman

Eugene Howard

Helena Lloyd

Noosa Botanical Artists – Mollie McCloskey, Helma Maiwald & Gabi Dick

Alan Pearson

Kees Pel

Elizabeth Poole

Luke Cornelis Sands

Gabi Timm

http://biancatainsh.com/taow-wrap-up