WEAVING WATER

MAY 5 - MAY 16, 2025

Yarun, Bribie Island, Queensland, Australia

( FULL PROGRAM TBA )

It’s not you trying to do the weaving, this Country is trying to weave you, this whole continent is you. (Wanta Jampijinpa Pawu) 

About Weaving Water

Weaving Water was conceived by Dr Tracey Benson, founder of Treecreate in 2022 as a working title for projects which brought together ways of thinking and understanding water ecosystems, stories and cultures. The first iteration of this project was Weaving Water @ Yarun, an interdisciplinary residency and symposium hosted on Yarun, Bribie Island, Australia where Treecreate is based.

Weaving Waters @ Yarun was an in-person and online SciArt residency and symposium. The overall program was framed by acknowledging the First Nations peoples and their deep understanding of place.

Weaving Water @ Yarun explored the concepts of water, relational ways of being and connectivity. The inaugural program ran between 27 November and 8 December 2023 on Yarun (Bribie Island), Queensland Australia.

The aim of this project is to create a space to explore Yarun (Bribie Island) and its environment, history and community. The objective of the project is to build connections between the local creative and environmentally focused community organisations with artists and scientists that are internationally recognised for their work. 

By creating a transdisciplinary program with a focus on Bribie Island, the project provided opportunities for collaboration, knowledge sharing and capacity building locally. It also presented to the public novel ways of highlighting the importance of the environment of Bribie Island and its role as a marine and wildlife sanctuary.

The residency brought together First Nations knowledge custodians, scientists (both professional and citizen scientists), visual artists, sound designers, wellbeing practitioners and students (secondary and tertiary) to explore, make and record the biodiversity of Yarun, through citizen science activities, education, creative production and applied research.

BIO

Dr Tracey M Benson is an Australian based interdisciplinary artist, UX designer, researcher and founder of Treecreate. She is passionate about more-than-human design and bridging the links between western ways of thinking with experiential and interconnected knowledge.

Tracey works at the nexus of media arts, digital transformation, ecological systems and citizen empowerment. Her work focuses on issues related to belonging, place, wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour change. Walking is central to her creative practice exploring locative and augmented media tools to engage audiences to see their places with fresh eyes.

Her work has been extensively presented internationally in media arts festivals and exhibitions. With a passion for understanding different knowledge systems and engaging audiences, she often collaborates with Indigenous communities and Elders, historians, technologists and scientists.

Tracey most recently co-designed and facilitated the international program Meeting of the Waters:Locative Media Oceania in collaboration with Supercluster, hosted by the Centre for Applied Water Science at University of Canberra. She is listed as an expert with the Australian Academy of Science for her work on citizen engagement and behaviour change around energy and household sustainability.

Academic overview
In 2001 she received a Research MA from Queensland University of Technology, focusing on souvenirs, nostalgia and personal identity. In 2010 Tracey was awarded a PhD at The Australian National University, where her thesis explored online communities, activism and social networking tools. She lectures internationally and holds adjunct positions at University of Canberra, the More than Human Lab at Victoria University, Wellington, NZ, the eXtended Reality Collective at Charles Sturt University and is an Advisor for the TransArt Institute. As an independent academic, Tracey has assessed a number of PhDs and is an advisor for PhDs in Australia, UK and USA across a range of disciplines including organisational psychology, media arts and urban design. She is currently working as a sessional academic at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

https://traceybenson.com
https://weavingwater.net/project/

Additional bios TBA

8/25 Benabrow Ave
Yarun, Bribie Island
QLD 4507 Australia