BOTANICA 2022
BOTANICA - Contemporary Art Outside - Brisbane City Botanical Gardens 2022
Andre and I visited the Botanica exhibition for the second year in a row and once again had the privilege of participating and witnessing alongside other members of the community, local Brisbane Art and night life. The annual exhibition is located in the Brisbane City Botanical Gardens and contains a collation of local artwork pieces including projected light displays, glowing forests of fungi, and neon purple bamboo. Andre and I hadn’t had the chance to go on an intentional date as per say for the past few weeks or so and leapt at the opportunity of a fun night out and the chance to capture the Brisbane community coming together to celebrate art and culture. From narratives of country to concepts of sustainable timber architecture and thought provoking explorations of security and evolving technologies - the exhibition tells the stories of people within our Brisbane community and the role in which they play.
Art and exhibitions have always been one of my favourite places and experiences from a very young age visiting various GOMA exhibitions only capturing the moments with pen and paper in my art journal, which later transitioned to my smart phone when I was in high school. Being able to share this past time of mine with Andre has been really exciting and in the context of Botanica a really special moment for us. The setting of the Brisbane city at night and the clusters of families, youth, and generations of locals and tourists exploring an other-wordly display of bright neon colours in the already beautiful gardens creates an atmosphere unlike no other. The visitors of the exhibition are also welcomed to participate in the growing of the neon fungi garden as a part of the Queensland Spinners Weavers & Fibre Artists Neon Night Garden (2022) artwork with a simple but effective community gathering garden of fluorescent fungal blooms.
Towards the end of the evening we visited the food truck vendors and got some dumplings whilst also capturing their hospitality services and interactions. There is something really special about the way in which these artists have worked with the curation team from council to collate such an inspiring and community focused work. Both Andre and myself look forward to visiting the BOTANICA exhibition in years to follow and it was a privilege to attend and capture these community focused moments amongst the exhibition and artwork.
The artists/artwork featured includes:
Leila Honari Farsh-e-Parandeh (Flying Carpet) - In the Gardens (2022)
Julie Monro-Allison Patterns of space, points of life (2022)
Tim Gruchy Naturae Vitibus (2022)
Kristina Knox / Maryam Shafiei / Shaden Aldakheel Urban Totems (2022)
Queensland Spinners Weavers & Fibre Artists Neon Night Garden (2022)
Archie Moore / Paul Bai / Erika Scott Under the Same Sky (No. 2) (2022)
Tyler Krelle / Keria Shane / Kirralee Parker Forecast (2022)
James Voller / Joel Zika Musa (2022)
Sam Cranstoun A Simple Story (2022)
