A two day symposium hosted by the School of Art, ANU

Wednesday 21 May from 6pm: ANU School of Art Lecture Theatre and Foyer Gallery
Thursday 22 May 9am to 5pm: Roland Wilson building lecture theatre 1.02

How does walking facilitate emergent perspectives and embodied practices that activate relations between art, practice, environment and politics?

Talking the Walk/Walking the Talk is a snapshot of contemporary Australia art practice where the common ground is perambulation. Artists use walking as a means of engaging with the environment and landscape, providing a physical and meditative way of connecting with people and place, while activating the diverse and layered histories present in the land and landscape.

Water and walking is an emerging theme; Keynote speaker, Nici Cumpston will discuss her practice of photographing the Murray-Darling Basin, Vic McEwan and George Main will present on their forthcoming project, Walking the Murrumbidgee River, and Rebecca Mayo’s paper engages with her recent 7 day walk along a peri-urban/urban waterway in Melbourne. Ellis Hutch walks in the dark and Anne-Marie Jean walks in the footsteps of artist/gardeners, David Watson’s paper Wild Ryde | swimming home addresses urban expeditions and Ryan Johnston (Head of art, Australian War Memorial) takes us through Tom Nicholson’s Palestine Memorials.

The symposium commences with a Feldenkrais class designed to bring participants’ attention to the organisation of their moving body in space.

» Download the symposium program [PDF, 2.7MB]

666 ABC Canberra Does walking inspire you?

Annika Harding, Ellis Hutch and Raquel Ormella did an interview on 666 ABC Canberra radio.