THE highly-acclaimed travelling photo exhibition ‘Waterbirds Return as the Gwydir Floods’ will be making its final showing and is open to the public tomorrow evening at TAS Hoskins Centre in Armidale.
The exhibition of large format photos will be opened by the Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall during the event which begins at 6.30pm. The opening will also coincide with the launch of a short video by members of the Armidale Clontarf Academy Aboriginal Dance Troupe, titled ‘IBIS’.
The video focuses on a dance choreographed by members of the dance troupe influenced by the Ibis waterbird and the Gwydir Wetlands.
Mr Marshall said the photo exhibition, which was first launched in Moree, home of the Gwydir Wetlands, on World Wetlands Day last year, has now since toured galleries across the north west region and been viewed by more than 12,000 people.
“The exhibition celebrates a major colonial waterbird breeding event that occurred in the Gwydir Wetlands in 20011/12 following large-scale floodplain flooding,” he said.
“Some of the images are breathtaking and beautifully covers and event in nature we’re not likely to see again for quite some time.”
Mr Marshall said this was the last chance to see the collection of images as an exhibition before it is launched as a short internet-based video, destined for the global audience.
“The show has really captured the imagination of visitors, with positive feedback at all venues” he said.
“What began as a book of photographs for landholders has now grown into a real celebration of these magnificent wetlands and its birdlife.”
The exhibition features the work of four photographers – Jennifer Spencer from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), Joshua Smith from Narrabri, Paul Bayne of Armidale and Daryl Albertson (OEH).