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Holly Ahern and Eden Crawford-Harriman Creative Development

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Holly Ahern & Eden Crawford-Harriman

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Holly Ahern and Eden Crawford-Harriman are emerging artists on Bundjalung Country. By examining collaborative practice as the assemblage of ideas and skills, Holly Ahern and Eden Crawford’s work centres upon the investigation of materials through a dialogue that is both playful and intimately negotiated.

Stage One

Tell us about the evolution of your concept through this creative development process.

While most regional communities in Australia face the harsh reality of the current global climate, the Northern Rivers are witnessing crises at an accelerating force. Catastrophic flooding continues to severely affect the region, highlighting the urgency of approaching climate emergencies with tangible, community-led action. While we are not capable of being the singular ‘voice’ of our region, this project will investigate a multitude of dialogues that speculate towards a future greater than our present experience.

Regional Future funds allowed us to engage in a week-long research residency at **frontyard** projects in Marrickville, Sydney. As our art studio in Lismore’s CBD was destroyed in the recent flooding events, this residency was significant in having a safe space to consider and reflect upon the individual and collective future/s of the Northern Rivers Region. This time was utilised through researching collaboration, community-engaged projects and public art programs.

What experts/community members did you connect with during your creative development?

We have connected with a number of researchers, artists and community organisations within Lismore and the greater Northern Rivers Region, that have begun to shape and inform how we will proceed with our project.

Groups include: The heART space (Lismore), Revive the Northern Rivers, Creative First Aid, Lismore Historical Society.

 

“Regional Futures has given us the opportunity to engage with our practice outside the scope of our own sphere of studio-based work.”

– Holly  & Eden

Describe where your work has reached in the development process and how you can see it progressing.

‘All that Remains are the Speculations of an Unknown/Better Future’ (Working Title) is a public activation project.

The project has developed to suit a more engaged output through public activation, and intervention. We will engage in conversations with researchers, environmentalists, artists and community organisations. With this, we will explore a diverse range of voices that inspire, engage, and speculate about the individual and collective futures of the Northern Rivers. These conversations will be filmed and recorded to reflect upon and inform the art-making process within the project.

Once we have adequately opened dialogues and speculate about the future, we will begin working collaboratively with a number of artists within the region on a series of works that creatively respond to our findings.

The works will be installed publicly throughout chosen locations within the Northern Rivers, intervening with dormant structures, forgotten spaces, and moments that may be hidden in plain sight.

Through the activation of these works in public environments, we hope that greater audiences will engage with art that is thought-provoking, humorous, engaging, nurturing, and validating of the experiences of a community that has been severely affected by the floods within the region.

If you were to tell someone about the impact of Regional Futures and this creative development opportunity on your practice, what would you say to them?

The Regional Futures program has given us the opportunity to engage with our practice outside the scope of our own sphere of studio-based work. We are excited to have the opportunity to work with people that are at the forefront of change and community action within our region while speculating a future that is greater than our present experience.

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