land clearing

Video Installation
Concept, movement and editing: Cinzia Schincariol
Camera: Tammy Arjona
Full lengths: 24 minutes looped wall projection
Location: Tokuremoar reserve Ngarrindjeri country (Goolwa) South Australia
Commissioned for the “from the inside” exhibition – Praxis – Adelaide

My first connection to the Tokuremoar forest was through the invitation from Tammy Arjona and Richard Hodges to collaborate for a dance/photography project that could eventuate in a performance:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/CadellStreetStudio/photos/?tab=album&album_id=913859035357826

The project expanded a few years later to call in many other artists to exhibit their response to this sacred place.

This time I decided to respond in a different way.

In fact, returning two years after my first exploration of this ancient and sacred place, I could only stare at the trees resting on the ground, axed by someone that wanted to build a shelter. A void had opened within the forest. The iconic tunnel virtuosity was totally compromised. I was gutted, speechless. I felt pain in my body.

Who can possibly do this? Not me, but I cannot not take responsibility for what has happened. Every action I take impacts the land. I am part of a ‘We’. As we undress the natural, our protective gear disappears. Our blindness is totally revealed as we keep crossing the line between care and abuse (of the land).

This project was developed in the land of the Ngarrindjeri people.

I would like to acknowledge the First Nations peoples of Australia as the traditional owners of the land.
I respect and acknowledge their spiritual connection as the custodians of their land and that their cultural heritage beliefs are still important for the living people of today. I pay respect to elders, past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.