Climarte’s Statement:
A liveable climate needs trees and trees need a liveable climate.
CLIMARTE’s TREE project was conceived through musing and imagining the multitudes of multispecies connections, interdependencies and communications in the urban environment – in the context of the Climate Emergency and the City of Melbourne’s world leading Urban Forest Strategy .
Imagine if the countless non-human life forms that inhabit Melbourne could also express their appreciation for all the incredible gifts (oxygen, habitats, shade, comfort and so on) that the City of Melbourne’s now 80,000+ beloved local trees provide day in day out?
Imagine what the trees themselves would say about being exposed to a climate and biodiversity emergency?
Conversely, The Urban Forest Strategy enables people to email the trees. Since the program launched in 2013, Melbourne’s trees have received thousands of love letters from humans near and far.
Featuring 25 artworks (also for sale), TREE presents work from Katherine Boland, Michelle Burns, Olga Dziemidowicz, Erica Elgin, Ariella Friend, Janice Gobey, Rod Gray, Lauren Guymer, Robbie Harmsworth, Zoé Haynes-Smith, Heather Hesterman, Bridget Hillebrand, Kathy Holowko & Sarah Moore, Todd Johnson, Linda Judge, Martin King, Susie Lachal, Nancy Lliang, Jan McLellan Rizzo, Zahra Marsous, Jarrad Martyn, Julia Schmitt, Benedict Sibley, Charlotte Watson and Barbara Wheeler.
International performance artist Dr Angela Viola will lead a participatory performance and workshop on 15th October 1pm to 3pm in Treasury Gardens, near Spring St and Flinders Lane.
[If the weather is wet the performance will be delayed to the next Saturday 22nd of October 1 to 3pm. Check Climarte’s social media for details.]
Submissions were assessed by a panel composed of Tim Entwisle, Director and Chief Executive of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Councillor Jamal Hakim, portfolio lead for Creative Melbourne and deputy portfolio lead for City Activation and Health, Wellbeing and Belonging, Guy Abrahams, CLIMARTE Co-Founder and Ambassador, and two CLIMARTE Committee Members.
As part of the Big Anxiety Festival, TREE will host a special workshop Towards an Ecological Self: Mapping Our Relations with Trees on 15 October in collaboration with Psychology for a Safe Climate, Sydney Environment Institute, and the Knowledge Translation Strategic Platform of Maridulu Budyari Gumal SPHERE.