Nature Lovers

NatureLovers looks at the history of people’s relationship to the bush here on the South Coast, from Indigenous home through invasion and hardship, to the emergence of bushwalking and camping for pleasure. We consider ideas about home and homelessness in the bush now, from campsites on the fringe or deep in the wilds, where nature is a site of loss, of solastalgia, yet also of regeneration and pleasure.

“NatureLovers” began with our commissioning of two new raps from Shoalhaven Koori rappers, Emcee Kronic and Pacemaker, briefed to consider the role of the natural world in their lives in the Shoalhaven. From their lyrics and chosen beats, two Nowra composer-arrangers were commissioned to write original music for the rappers to perform with the Shoalhaven City Stage Band.

Shoalhaven artists collaborated to make backpack sculptures and a choreographed work, NatureLovers Walkers performed with the rappers, the band and large projections of the Walkers in the forest. Between performances, the sculpted backpacks became part of an installation with a soundtrack of the raps with cicadas, camp-beds and blanket sculptures in an old canvas tent in the heart of Nowra. For other performances, the NatureLovers Walkers moved and posed for live life-drawing  with a smaller band, amidst a circle of easels and an open invitation to draw. Special thanks to Anne Stuart and Greg Burke Video Sean Bacon, photos Ian Hobbs, Heidrun Lohr, Alison Clouston Kantanka, Bundanon Trust, Australia Council for the Arts.