Adisaster is occurring in the seas of northeastern Australia. Driven
by ocean currents, abandoned fishing nets are accumulating
in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Torres Strait, not far from the
Great Barrier Reef. Made of plastic and fluorescent in color, these discarded
“ghost nets” are very slow to degrade. For years, they drift in the sea,
trapping the rich array of marine life including endangered species such
as sea turtles, sharks, rays, and sawfish among many others. Eventually
they fall to the bottom of the sea, suffocating the seabed and coral reefs,
resulting in long-term damage to the marine environment.
Indigenous Australians were among the first to identify the harm caused
by ghost nets and other by-products of non-Indigenous commercial
enterprises concerning water. This is unsurprising because for thousands of
years they have retained and passed down extensive cultural knowledge of
plant and animal life. This knowledge includes “caring for country,” a phrase
that generally describes the efforts of maintaining and sustaining their
relationships with the land and sea.
The works in this exhibition celebrate the central importance of the ocean
to human life, and respond to its current threats. Artists in Pormpuraaw
are making sculptures from the detritus of the commercial fishing industry,
both to reuse the materials and to raise awareness about its damaging
consequences. z