I have composed the score to Vera Hong’s work presented at the Powerhouse museum as part of the Eucalyptusdom exhibition. The score features violin composition by Eric Avery.
Walking is an act of learning, a cultural exchange with the land and those we walk with. Coming to know a forest, is an exploration of relationships and intergenerational knowledge. This portrait of the Blue Gum Forest, Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, contemplates a place that inspired a conservation movement. The 70 metre tall Eucalyptus deanei at the heart of the Grose Valley, are estimated to be up to 1200 years old. Following fire and flood, the reproductive capacity of the iconic forest from this point is unknown.
“Eucalyptusdom reckons with our cultural history and ever-changing relationship with the gum tree, presenting over 400 objects from the Powerhouse Collection alongside 17 newly commissioned works by creative practitioners working across the fields of design, architecture, film, applied arts and performance. Taking its title from a 1930s text by Edward F Swain, one of Australia’s earliest conservationists, the exhibition will also reveal the Powerhouse Museum’s unique and longstanding relationship with the eucalypt.” – Powerhouse Museum
Two channel video.
Commissioned Artist, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor: Vera Hong
Co-cinematographer: Craig Bender
Composition and Sound Design: James Peter Brown
Featuring Violin Composition and Performance by Eric Avery
Acknowledgement and thanks to advisors: Wyn Jones, Dr Ruth Longdin, Andy Macqueen OAM, Grant Purcell, Jacqueline Reid, and Chris Tobin.
Commissioned by Powerhouse Museum, Sydney for the exhibition Eucalyptusdom (Oct 2021 – Aug 2022).
For more information www.maas.museum/event/eucalyptusdom
