Forecast—Now On at The Art Gallery of Western Australia

Forecast is The Art Gallery of Western Australia’s newest experiential exhibition that invites audiences of all ages and abilities to pause, listen, feel, and connect with the world around us.

At a time of increasing climate instability, Forecast offers an unplugged, meditative and interactive exhibition that explores First Nations understandings of environment as family, inviting reflection and deepening connection with our changing world.

The exhibition presents larger-than-life collaborative photomontage works by artists, Ballardong Noongar woman Dianne Jones and Eva Fernandez of Spanish parentage. The works draw on each of the artists’ personal family histories and feature interconnected generations of families and forests, which enfold a series of reflective experiences for participants.

Lilly Blue, AGWA’s Head of Learning and Creativity Research said: “Forecast is about making connections with each other and our environment. It is about storytelling and sharing. It is a place to feel and reflect, and to be together.”

Forecast is equal part exhibition, artist studio, retreat, and creative weather station. Audiences are invited to contribute to Disappearing Forests by painting evaporating treescapes with water and Weather Patterns, a daily changing installation that reflects currents, atmospheres, and connections.

“It is remarkable to see so many adults, many of whom have not explored any kind of artmaking since they were young children, engage in a painting experience that is low risk, and full of opportunities for experimentation and delight.” Lilly Blue.

The exhibition is a collaboration between AGWA’s Head of Learning and Creativity Research, Lilly Blue, ECU’s Centre for People Place and Planet artist-scholar, Dr Jo Pollitt together with artists Dianne Jones and Eva Fernandez.

“Forecast offers a moment to be present with the complexity of environmental crisis to practice being attuned and more sensitively responsive in unstable times,” said ECU’s Dr Jo Pollitt.

Through ongoing conversation with the Bureau of Meteorology, Forecast is an innovative exploration across the arts, science, education, and health, offering opportunities to address increasing eco-anxiety across generations while heightening our ability to respond to crisis through the arts with tenderness, attention, and care.

Bureau of Meteorology WA Manager, Hazard Preparedness and Response, James Ashley said, “This is a special collaboration that brings together artistic, Indigenous and scientific ideas.”

“It provides an opportunity for the Bureau to explore creative ways of nurturing a deeper engagement with the environment to help improve people’s awareness, connection and responsiveness to the weather around us.”

The exhibition continues the collaborative curatorial practices of The Art Gallery of Western Australia’s dedicated participatory exhibition space, Gallery 09 curated by Head of Learning and Creativity Research, Lilly Blue. Gallery 09 exhibitions are designed with a more-than-learning philosophy to engage audiences of all ages and abilities. This approach embraces artist-led, non-didactic, entangled, and emotional experiences with the arts, contributing to more deeply connected futures.

Forecast Quiet Hour

A time for rest, reflection and slow play

3pm-4pm daily for all ages

For families who require quieter spaces, and lower sensory environments, as well as anyone needing some rest. Notice sounds and sensations, listen to your heartbeat, watch the movement of the clouds, feel your breath rising and falling.

The exhibition will be officially opened on Thursday 16 May at 6pm and will run until February 2025 and is free to attend.

Gallery 09 is supported by Healthway promoting Act Belong Commit
Art connects us to ourselves, each other and our communities, helping to create a healthy Western Australia

For more information, visit artgallery.wa.gov.au