Art for Takayna 2025 Takayna coastal walk, forest venturing, bushfires traverse
The long weekend over April 17-21st was the annual Art for Takayna field trip by Bob Brown Foundation. It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring artists out to different areas of Takayna/Tarkine, especially if they have never been before, and/or if they would like to see a new and different area. This year was the fifth time that I have personally attended, the fourth time co-leading the trip with Tim, this particular one being the fourth trip to the coast. The year before last we led the packrafting trip to Wilson River, with Jenna as our packrafting guide. This year Plan A was to head back down the Pieman River from Corinna to Pieman Heads, then after a boat transfer to the north side of the river, walk from Pieman Heads to Interview River. All was up in the air this year due to the ravaging uncontrolled bushfires this summer which obliterated 95,000+ hectares of Takayna, both sides of Norfolk Range. More on that in a minute. A few days prior to departure, we received confirmation from Parks ranger that the track was still closed, and that water levels were the lowest ever that they’ve been in a long time. Furthermore, even if the track had reopened, it was likely that water at Interview River could be contaminated and unsafe to drink. Our priority with planning any remote multi-day walk is access to drinking water, as logistically camping, cooking, and distance does depend on water supply and carrying capacity, etc. So, with this in mind, we opted for Plan B: coastal walk from Temma to Hazard Bay.
It has taken me a seemingly long while to gather some thoughts together, to form some reflection of sorts which ultimately is leading towards and will culminate in some creative expression at this year’s Art for Takayna Exhibition in Nipaluna/Hobart this winter. One word which arose from other activity, which actually sums up this inner grapplings of everything about this trip and immediately afterwards for me, keeps popping to mind:
J U X T A P O S I T I O N
From merriam-webster: noun. jux-ta-po-si-tion :
the act or an instance of placing two or more things
side by side often to compare or contrast
or to create an interesting effect.
That said, on our weekend we go. A much shorter walk than originally planned, yet still Takayna Coast, still an experience of what was, what is, and what the future trajectory looks like based on current observation and experience. Eight of us in total traveled via convoy to Temma, passing the other remote trip along the way - they were headed into Takayna for a packrafting trip down Maytim/Arthur River. As we walked the first 3-4 kilometres to the usually-flowing river crossing before the campsite, it was dry as a bone.. further up a bit was some still water.. so we continued on a little bit longer to the hill for a lunch spot and to ponder our options. Among our group we had a couple water filters among us, so decided together to camp the first night and decide from there on a second night or to think of a Plan C.
Amid the low water levels, boiling water after filtering to be sure, and being ‘checked up on’ by those staying at shacks with 4WDs.. we spent a couple days viewing wildlife, walking along Hazard Bay beach, weaving around 4WD tracks on foot, noticing new 4WD tracks over culturally significant living spaces (aka middens), cooking meals, engaging in artist activities, withstanding the Saturday night wind & rain (one of the tents collapsed!), listening to 4WD’s tear around the tracks after midnight - would certainly rather listen to tasmanian devils than the vehicles in the middle of the night. Sunday we opted to walk back out and take our group on a little guided Takayna tour.. tea break at Sarah Anne Rocks, lunch at Julius River, and camping in the forest in the wonderfully familiar Sumac forest coupe SU055C, former blockade camp.. it was where my first introductory visit to BBF’s blockade camp in 2019 - where Takayna forest activism began for me. After spending the starry night in the forest, we left and drove around along the Road to Nowhere towards Corinna, straight through the devastation of the Takayna fires. We had an awesome, engaged & fun group, all who I reckon may have been touched on different levels after this immersion and experiencing Takayna. Can’t wait to see what creations culminate from everyone from the weekend..!
Charred Autumn
Still, even a couple weeks later, and after returning to the areas of the bushfires where Tim and I spent virtually all day shooting (photos of course!), it is hard to shake the almost disbelief and moments of grief.. realisation, what have you.. of how widespread the devastation is. For me this was a very different type of experience of the field trip.. not so much of the raw-power hit that I have felt before along the coast, or the all-good feelings I usually feel following these excursions.. but maybe because the current federal elections are here now, and the reality of the state of the world rests heavily in my thoughts, mind, heart, and soul. Sadness looms as traversing across an almost unrecognizable landscape. This past fortnight as I write this, while everyone flocked to the turning of fagus (always stunning and still hope to see it this year), we stood among autumn colours of a different kind: charred landscapes. Only a few months ago we drove along this road, contemplating a bikepacking journey around all of Takayna, including this spot.. which likely will still do as the land heals and regenerates. Already can see life resurfacing, green life sprouting through black charred trees, sienna/copper-laden leaves and branches that remain on some, black buttongrass wilted stumps and burnt blossoms. Birds returning, evidence of wombats and marsupials recently roaming, foraging. Looking over and up at now blackened Mount Donaldson.. still remembering walking up through muddy trails at night and sleeping in bivvys at the top, waking up with the sunrise and looking over a golden and green landscape all around.. now gone.. still some smoke actively burning away in a couple areas. The entire Norfolk range, all the way to the edges of the coast, and from the other side towards strange of Huon pines thousands of years old. It’s a BIG AREA, that seems to go on and on..
What surprises me is how seemingly little we have heard in the news about the 75,000-90,000+ hectares of Takayna that was burned. The action and reporting on Huon pines seemed to have been rather…delayed.. more attention seemed to have been given to private tourism huts. Not spoken of much, as if it is ‘no big deal’. Then again, I don’t exactly tune in to mainstream television news much. Dry lightning is what caused these fires initially, and in this climate crisis we are in, we will see much more of this. More fires, larger areas of damage, more floods, more natural disasters. Will this be a learning experience so that this level of devastation is not subjected to again..? Meanwhile it feels like the world has gone mad.. in unison so-called leaders are waving green flags to do everything they can to permit global environmental destruction, the dismantling of protections for clean air, clean oceans, native forests, sacred cultural spaces, and on and on and on. What is to come with the continual threat of and acts of native deforestation & clearfell practices, pollution of oceans, driving species into extinction, mining in areas once deemed wilderness, tourism encroaching everywhere. Humans and dis-connection with nature. Of self-interests. Of human-superiority over all. One can certainly go down a rabbit hole on this., and/or shout out and plead for the madness to stop, yet seemingly fall on deaf ears. BUT. I still hang on to hope. Which leads to Action. Hope for a better world. Take Action for a better world. We keep on showing the world the beauty, exquisiteness, life, and awe of Takayna. We help to create opportunities for others to walk softly around and in Takayna, float down the river, breathe in oceanic air..learn about Tasmanian Aboriginal culture and the significant cultural landscape. Then what moves each person can be a ripple effect to touch others in further away places. We may not be able to change the world all at once, but through art as one vehicle we might be able to spark a ripple of care here on this little island, of hope, of change, of respect, of action. And just maybe, Takayna will achieve protection..
Some images on the journey.. yet more to come, too. A few or a series, not pictured here, may feature in the upcoming Art for Takayna collaborative exhibition in June this year.. watch this space..
