City+Sea

City+Sea is a project by a cross-disciplinary group from University of Wollongong: Kim Williams, Leah Gibbs, Lucas Ihlein, and Sarah Hamylton, with artwork contributions from Hayden Griffith and Aunty Barbara Nicholson.

Visit the City+Sea blog.

About the project:

The installation offers a ‘flipped’ perspective of the Illawarra: the land seen from the sea.

The exhibition has 5 components:

A video of the Illawarra coastline, shot in a single continuous take from a fishing boat. The high resolution video is projected as large as possible within the gallery space to create an immersive experience for the viewer. A sound recording of waves and wind accompanies the video. The video runs in real time for 3.5 hours, simulating the entire journey along the coast.

A continuous watercolour drawing of the coastline (comprising 35 parts, each approx 20cm tall by 60cm wide) created during the boat journey by the artists, scientist, and geographer.

A narrative poem written by local Wadi Wadi Elder Aunty Barbara Nicholson, written in response to the video and watercolour. The poem is installed above the watercolour painting, telling fragments of local story and history through an Indigenous view of Country.

A video that voices the poem by Aunty Barbara Nicholson.

A booklet with writing and photos by the artists, designed by John Causley.

View some photographs of the exhibition and the researchers-artists here. Photos by Paul Jones.

Exhibition acknowledgements:

Acknowledgement of Country
We pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians of the
land and water on which we live and work, and where
this artwork was made. We acknowledge the people who
hold connection to this Country, and we acknowledge
Country itself.

Interdisciplinary Exhibition Team
Dr Kim Williams (artist)
A/Prof. Leah Gibbs (human geographer)
Dr Lucas Ihlein (artist)
A/Prof. Sarah Hamylton (coastal geographer)

Artwork Contributors
Hayden Griffith (cinematographer)
Aunty Barbara Nicholson (Wadi Wadi Elder, poet)

Exhibition Tech Team
Phillippa Webb (gallery curator)
Alistair Davies (technician)
Orlando Norrish (technician)
Rory Moy (technician)

Funding
This project was funded by a University of Wollongong
ReVITAlise (RITA) Research Grant 2021. The exhibition
received additional support from ACCESS (Australian
Centre for Culture, Environment, Society and Space), and
the ‘Better Oceans, Better Futures’ ARC Linkage project
(LP200300895).

Thanks to
Helen F. Wilson, Michelle Voyer, Anna Jones, Aaron Hull,
Bobby from Aquilla Fishing Charters, Anthony McKnight,
Aunty Carol Speechley, Valerie Harwood, Pauline McGuirk,
Cath McKinnon, Sue Bennett, Jo Law, Pete Kelly, Glenn
Alexander, Paul Jones, Holden Davies, C3P Research
Centre, UOW Printery, Facilities Management Division.