Sunshine Coast tree tales could branch out worldwide
Published on 18 February, 2010
Stories and other internet content inspired by significant trees in the Sunshine Coast area could be linked globally, thanks to a project initiated recently (Feb 12-13). Teachers, students and international artists planning the arts and new media project (part of the regional ‘TreeLine' project) gathered at CQUniversity's facility in the Noosa Medical & Professional Centre at 90 Goodchap Street in Noosaville.
The Tree Mappa 2.0 project will occur from Feb-June 2010 and will culminate with activities around World Environment Day in June.
Children and young people will use drama, art and new media to engage with local history and stories (Indigenous, post-settlement, contemporary) and work with artists, museums, pre-service education students and local community members to create and share their work.
Their opportunity to work with leading international arts and multi-media company, C & T (from the UK), will enable the project to connect with an international audience and build capacity within the creative arts and education sectors on the Sunshine Coast.
Tree Mappa 2.0 will be managed by Sue Davis and staff from CQUniversity, which is a lead agency for pre-service teacher education in the Sunshine Coast region. Sue is a lecturer in education with a long history in youth theatre and performance. Over the past five years, she has researched and staged projects which have explored using the Internet and pervasive technologies for enacting drama.
Other key participants include Dr Paul Sutton, the founder and Artistic Director of the Drama and New Media Company C & T based at the University of Worcester in England. He has extensive experience as a director and education and arts management consultant who has worked for Arts Council England, TMPL Associates, Warwick Arts Centre and The BBC. Also involved is Max Allsup, an Assistant Director with C & T who has worked on a range of projects including LipSynch and the Living Newspaper project, with recent work conducted in Gambia.
Sue Davis says that throughout the 2 days, teachers and CQUniversity staff and students worked with the C & T artists and a number of representatives from community organisations.
"Gubbi Gubbi representative Lyndon Davis, the TreeLine art program, the 'What Native LOCAL plant is that' program and the Eumundi and District Historical Association all shared their perspectives and knowledge about local trees and stories," Sue said.
"The C & T artists then shared strategies for building and sharing the forthcoming work using Google Maps and other on-line applications such as Photosynth and Musicovery."
Sue said participant feedback was very positive, with comments including 'an exciting project, great ideas for use of the arts as catalysts for learning about and doing something positive for the environment' and 'great for improving technologiy skills and tapping into others expertise'.
"Over the next 4 months, University, school and community groups will respond to a number of challenges which ask them to develop certain content and stories related to trees, maps and journeys.
"They will engage with different arts practice, history and the environment to develop images, videos, audio and written texts. Content will then be uploaded to a project website (not yet live) http://www.everymap.net/ .
"Once uploaded content will be able to be viewed by anyone on-line. The weekend workshop also highlighted the exciting potential for international collaboration and research to emerge from the project, with plans underway to explore student engagement with technology, the arts and the environment. "
This project has been sponsored by CQUniversity, The Eumundi & District Historical Association and the Sunshine Coast Regional Council RADF fund. The Regional Arts Development Fund is a Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Queensland Government partnership to support local arts and culture. Tree Mappa 2.0 has also been endorsed by the Noosa Biosphere Cultural Sector Board.