ABOUT THE WHITE BLUFF PROJECT

A MULTI-DISCIPLINE RESPONSE TO THE CHANGING ECOSYSTEM OF WHITE BLUFF – A MICROCOSM OF AUSTRALIA'S EAST COAST.

White Bluff is a rocky headland on the north side of the regional city of Coffs Harbour, on Australia’s eastern seaboard. One painter’s 40-year creative association with the site resulted in a group of artists coming together with scientists and community members to explore concepts of place, change and discovery using White Bluff as an exemplar for all our experiences of our shared coastal spaces.

White Bluff is an isolated and little-known headland; a place that is surrounded by development on its landward edge and yet protected by the Solitary Islands Marine Reserve on its littoral and off-shore waters. It sits on the border of local indigenous territories. It is Crown Land - typical of a string of coastal ecosystems along Australia's increasingly inhabited eastern seaboard. While White Bluff may have no recognised national significance, it is exactly this that makes it such a shared Australian experience despite its specific location.

In partnership with Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, the project brought together intergenerational local visual artists, an Indigenous artist, a poet, a musician, filmmakers, traditional knowledge holders, land and marine scientists and stakeholder community groups. Driven by the need to give every day landscapes a voice, the project’s founding artist, Ray Rixon, and joint coordinator Sarah Mufford, brought together a multi-disciplinary team, encouraging them to collaborate in unique ways as they took a closer look at the beauty, fragility and individuality of local landscapes. Through science, indigenous and post colonial histories, and contemporary community connections, White Bluff participants explored the human and natural histories, scientific relationships, community import, and their personal responses to White Bluff’s land and marine environments; weaving their varied disciplines and experiences into unique final artworks —in the same way that White Bluff itself is a weaving of varied ecosystems and histories.

These exciting, new collaborative artworks were displayed in an exhibition at the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery (CHRG) from October 30 2021 - January 15 2022. In the lead up to the exhibition, and during its duration, the White Bluff Project also provided workshop, talks and on-site experiences for the wider community, so they could engage with and join the collaborative process.

Our coastline is increasingly being altered by human development and natural processes. The White Bluff Project was about artistic exploration of these changes, through research and experimentation. A collaboration between art, science and the Coffs Coast Community.

For more information about the White Bluff Project contact us at: thewhitebluffproject@gmail.com