RDA Murray celebrates regional culture

Published: 10th October 2012

RDA Murray (New South Wales) is supporting two cultural festivals in the region during spring. The Spirit of the Land Lockhart art exhibition and the Balranald 5 Rivers Outback Festival will both celebrate living in regional outback NSW.

The Spirit of the Land Lockhart art exhibition is an event that showcases farm sculptures created from recycled metal, farm materials and elements of the land. The event also includes fine arts, Indigenous art, boutique markets and stalls, open gardens, and a showcase of the performing arts. The festival will also bring international art to the region with a sculpture by Beijing artist Chen Wenling on display.

The art exhibition is part of the Spirit of the Land Festival from 12—14 October 2012 which aims to celebrate the resourcefulness and creativity of the local community.

The festival grew out of community concern about escalating rural suicides during the region’s worst ever drought. Farmers were determined to survive living and working on the land and started to celebrate this by using country ingenuity to create sculptures from old farm machinery and recycled scrap metal.

Previous exhibitions have attracted national and international media and major corporate sponsorship has enabled a $10,000 first prize for the exhibition. In three years the Lockhart township became a finalist in the NSW Inland Tourism awards and is fast becoming the “Farm Art” capital of Australia.

The festival also includes a farmers market, with stalls scattered under the verandas of Lockhart’s main street and in the caravan park.

RDA Murray will also be supporting the Balranald 5 Rivers Outback Festival which will be held from 2—5 November 2012. The festival was first held in October 2010 and its success saw it become an annual event. The festival draws on local culture and brings a vibrant spirit to the community, attracting visitors to the natural wonders of Balranald and the local region.

The festival activities include the ‘Feral Farm Ute’ competition and ‘My Camp Oven Rules’. There will also be a market day, Indigenous music and dance, along with movies on the Lake at the famous Yanga homestead.

For more information, visit the RDA Murray website.

(Pictured above) Sculpture by Andrew Whitehead.