One hundred artists from around Australia are travelling to takayna / Tarkine in north-west Tasmania for the eleventh annual Art for Takayna residency. The event gives artists a first hand witness to the ongoing threats of logging, mining and off-road vehicles that encroach upon this globally significant ecosystem.

Artists will spread across five camps and capture the wild and threatened beauty of Takayna’s rainforests, tall eucalyptus forests, beaches and mountains, the calls of rare birds, and the flowing rivers that have carved this landscape for millennia.

“We will host artists in the rainforests still standing after years of protests preventing MMG toxic waste dump, and two sites are ancient forests that are threatened by logging. A group will raft down the Arthur River and document the tragically logged Masked Owl habitat on the river’s edge. The wild remote coastline will be captured by a group of artists who are walking for four days,” said Jenny Weber, Bob Brown Foundation’s Campaigns Manager.

The Easter weekend expedition has been organised by the Bob Brown Foundation, which is seeking to highlight the fragility of Takayna amid its call for World Heritage protection.

“Our annual events in Takayna are uniting the community to fight for urgent Takayna protection. While we build a community of Takayna protectors, the parliamentarians in Canberra and Hobart sit on their hands and wilfully fail to protect Takayna for its world heritage values,” said Jenny Weber.

“Art for Takayna will share with the people across the globe what stands to be lost forever if World Heritage protection is not granted. The artworks become powerful tools in advocacy, providing a visual and visceral reminder of what is at stake,“ said Jenny Weber.

Artists, including illustrators, writers, photographers, filmmakers, painters, musicians and sculptors will spend four days immersed in the vast region, which spans a total of more than 495 000 hectares.

“We are campaigning for the threatened Takayna to be declared a World Heritage listed National Park and returned to Aboriginal ownership. We are building this powerful movement for Takayna and will not back down till it’s saved forever,” said Jenny Weber.