What is a tree worth? – Melbourne exhibition opens April 27

Above: Bala Ga Lili (Two Ways Learning) by Damien Wright and Bonhula Yunupingu.

A Tree’s Worth is curated by Aviva Reed, Marco Amati and Victor Griss and opens Saturday April 27 and runs until May 26, 2019 at Counihan Gallery in Brunswick, Victoria.

‘A Tree’s Worth engages artists, craftspeople, writers, scientists, planners and policy makers in a question that was at the very heart of how Bonhula and I met,’ commented Damien Wright one of the makers whose work is featured. Damien Wright and Bonhula Yunupingu’s collaborative piece Bala Ga Lili (Two Ways Learning) as well as Damien’s Food Bowl will be shown at the exhibition.

Detail from Bala Ga Lili (Two Ways Learning) by Damien Wright and Bonhula Yunupingu.

Referring to the two makers’ connection and the (gadayka/Darwin stringybark) resource they use,  Damien writes: ‘What is the value of a tree that is a waste product of bauxite mining? A tree that has to be removed to access the mineral wealth of the land. And how do we relate to 10,000 year old ancient redgum? How as colonists can we reconcile the deep time history of this continent and our smash and grab settlement drive? And how does a traditional Yolngu man and Irish/English Catholic settler descendent express themselves in a collaborative process. The tree, the timber itself has given Bonhula and I a chance to tell our story. Two men, always connected, always apart, moving through this country watching our step.’

A Tree’s Worth featured artists include Selena De Carvalho, Office of Other Spaces, Aviva Reed, Briony Barr, Sofia Sabbagh, Damien Wright and Bonhula Yunupingu.

The video below highlights Damien Wright and Bonhula Yunupingu’s collaborative design process and the influences behind their piece Bala Ga Lili:

A Tree's Worth is supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project: “Seeing the good from the trees: remotely sensing the urban forest”.

Counihan Gallery is housed within Brunswick Town Hall, 233 Sydney Rd, Brunswick, Victoria.
Here’s a link to more information on the gallery website