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The
Spirit Bird constructed by John Fitzwalter
Flaming
Spirit Bird construction coordinated by Sara Lawless, Cathy Ellis and
Andrew Daniels
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Oxley
Creek Water Festival 1998
"Benarrawa Dreaming "
The
core performance for the 1998 festival focussed on the theme ‘Benarrawa
Dreaming’. The traditional owners of this land believe that to
understand the dreaming you have to experience it and that the dreaming
is not something of the past but is happening here and now. So this
year's festival was intended as a dreaming experience for the visitors.
The forces impacting on the creek and the possible heroes for the health
of the creek were also considered in planning this Festival. The large
'spirit' bird made another appearance and the performance was preceded
by a lantern parade with children and their families from the schools
within the catchment. Local artists conducted a series of workshops
in schools leading up to this event including lantern making, stilt
walking, mosaic mural making, posters, theatre performance and street
theatre. The schools arts program was funded through the Gaming Machine
Community Benefit Fund.
The Festival show-cased many aspects of the community involvement with
the Oxley Creek including a Poet's Breakfast, canoe races, exhibitions,
the launch of the Oxley Creek web site, Snapshots in Time (photographic
exhibition), performances, river
cruises, unveiling of the Bronze Bark Canoe sculpture (see below) and
many displays and stalls.
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| The
Bronze Bark Canoe Sculpture launched at the 1998 Festival |
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