A new festival featuring an inspiring program of local visual artists, live music, poetry and guest speakers will be held in Dargan on Saturday, December 1.
The Encountering the Wild Multi Arts Festival is at Gallery H Basement, 227 Chifley Road, Dargan (near Bell railway station) from 2pm-sunset.
Entry is by optional donation.
Wayne Brennan will open with a talk on Wollemi rock art and the role of art in Aboriginal culture.
There will be a documentary by Ryan Jasper Walsh and an art exhibition curated by Simon Hearn and Henryk Topolnicki featuring more than 60 pieces by established and emerging local artists. It will be opened with the poetry of Hadyn Washington.
The music program is curated by Willam Hendriksen and will begin with violinist and singer/songwriter Maizy Coombes and Dark Elixir. Also performing will be Humumbra’s Gigi Ray and Georgia Webb, Stuart Cam and Ally Oliver with their five-piece band, Future State and Sean Botha.
“The Wild Mountain Collective is a community of painters, photographers, writers, thinkers, poets, sculptors, musicians, lyricists, architects and philosophers of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage area, which aims to highlight and celebrate the important role of our relationship to the wild of the natural world for our community and individual sense of wellbeing”, said Barbara Lepani on behalf of the collective.