The Cad Factory, National Museum of Australia and Petaurus Education Group are delighted to announce the launch of the River Country tour in Narrandera this month.

River Country explores the cultural, creative and spiritual connections with Murray-Darling rivers and wetlands.

This exciting and accessible arts program emerged from the National Museum of Australia’s River Country Community Day held in Canberra in 2023. It will visit Narrandera and the Riverina between 24 October and 31 October 2024, before heading west to the Broken Hill region in late November and north to Tamworth and Moree in early 2025.

Dr Kirsten Wehner, National Museum of Australia James O Fairfax Senior Fellow in Culture and Environment, reflected that the River Country Community Day held at the National Museum in Canberra in October last year was a wonderful opportunity for people to explore all the different ways that our lives are intertwined with the beautiful and threatened Murray–Darling rivers and wetlands.

“It’s very exciting that this event has now transformed into a stand-alone arts program that will visit communities across New South Wales,” she said.

“We often hear how the Murray–Darling system enables Australia’s agriculture, energy production and other industries. But it also enables river flows, shaded pools and vibrant wetlands, places that are home to hundreds of extraordinary plants and animals and that are important culturally, socially and spiritually to the people who live with them.

“River Country will bring people together to share how these places matter to them and why we need to make sure they flourish into the future. We all have a river story to share,” Dr Wehner said.

Presented in collaboration with Narrandera Fisheries, Narrandera Shire Council and the Clontarf Academy at Narrandera High School, the Riverina leg of the River Country tour will include a range of activities from 24 – 31 October 2024.

Vic McEwan from the Cad Factory commented, “We can’t wait to share this collection of events in Narrandera, a town that is teeming with natural beauty. We know residents are deeply connected to the river and the landscape they live amongst.”

From 24 – 26 October, the Narrandera Arts and Community Centre will be transformed with the River Country exhibition, a unique art installation evoking the forms, flows and species of a Murray-Darling wetland.

Exciting events for Narrandera

The exhibition is open from 10am – 5pm and includes works by over 90 artists from across the river system, each sharing memories and hopes about waterways. Visitors will be invited to contribute their own river story.

Award-winning environmental author Dr Cameron Muir will facilitate a writing workshop exploring life along the Murrumbidgee River on Thursday 24 October from 6pm – 8pm at the Narrandera Arts and Community Centre.

Wiradjuri Elder, Michael Lyons, will lead a walk on Country, traversing the past and present of the Sandhills and Koori’s Beach on Friday 25 October from 10am – 12pm.

The program culminates on Friday 25 October from 7pm – 9:30pm at the Narrandera Fisheries Centre with an outdoor picnic, performance and film screening event. This is a very special opportunity to see the documentary, More than a Fish Kill, that explores how artists, fisheries managers and First Nations custodians came together in the aftermath of devastating fish kills along the Barka (Darling River) to turn ecological disaster into cultural healing.

The film features the event, Wirramarri: Long Way from Home, held at Koori’s Beach in Narrandera in 2021.

In Narrandera, Leeton and Balranald, there will be invited school workshops exploring river stories led by artist-educator Samantha Davies from Petaurus Education Group and artist-curator Dr Kirsten Wehner and Dr Cameron Muir from the National Museum of Australia.

All events in the River Country tour are free thanks to the support of the NSW Government through Create NSW and Regional NSW.

Additional support has been generously provided by the James Fairfax Foundation, the Sydney Environment Institute at the University of Sydney, Menindee Aboriginal Elders Council and Otis Filley Studios.

More information about the River Country tour can be found on the Cad Factory’s website www.cadfactory.com.au.

This article appeared in the  Narrandera Argus, 17 October 2024.