Conference of the Birds
The Valley of Harmony & Unity
May 24th 2025
Boorun - Creator Spirit Photo: Kat Kershaw
A night-time pilgrimage along the Boolarra - Mirboo North Rail Trail to 'The Meadows'
After the highly successful pilot event in Centenary Park in May 2024,
'Conference of the Birds' returns to Boolarra in May 2025 with an exciting new production.
This time we stay warm with a bonfire!
Conference of the Birds is an art walk that travels along the Grandridge Rail Trail from Centenary Park, Boolarra to a beautiful open space called
The Meadows.
The Journey begins with First Nations' ceremony & then the audience set off on a quest along the rail trail passing musical groups, dance groups, art installations & performance art on a pilgrimage that brings everyone to The Meadows for music, dance, story & a bonfire.
Food trucks will sell warm food & drinks at this site. Walkers should rug up well, bring a torch & something to sit on. Bikes are permitted - but please give way to pedestrians. There are some spaces available on minibuses for elderly & people with mobility needs - please register (see below).
Everyone is welcome & invited to participate - whether you are arty or not!
Workshops in a variety of mediums held each Sunday from 2pm in Boolarra Memorial Hall from March - May 2025. For more info click on the button above. Stay tuned & sign up for more info!
Not that Arty - But keen to be involved?
WE NEED YOU TOO!
There are a variety of roles & tasks that will help us make Conference of the Birds a success.
Including: marshalling, bump in & out of the performance space, minibus driving, bonfire building, food preparation, costume sewing, & many more!
Conference of the Birds is a community-based event inspired by the resilience, artistic talents & community spirit of the people of the Latrobe Valley & South Gippsland & celebrates the beautiful bird-life on lands we call home. The pilgrimage explores country, survival & belonging created in collaboration with First Nations peoples, artists & the broader community.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Rail Trail is suitable for wheel chairs & mobility scooters
A shuttle Bus will be operating for people with special mobility & access needs
Conference of the Birds
currently has 3 stages of development.
Stage 1.
In 2024 the very first Valley - The Valley of the Quest took place in Centenary Park in Boolarra on the 25th May 2024. This was the first pilot run of the event.
Stage 2.
In 2025 the second pilot will see Conferennce of the Birds travel along the Rail Trail to The Meadows. The Valley of Harmony & Unity is the finale to the art walk.
Stage 3.
The inaugural art-walk in complete form -as a proposed biennial event. It is intended that in time the project will grow.
DISCOVER WORKSHOPS & OPPORTUNITIES
To be involved
Valley of Harmony & Unity: Gayle Margaret & Sue Gilford
About The Event
An open & inclusive processional art-event, Conference of the Birds will bring together locals from villages & towns in the Latrobe valley & Strzelecki ranges. Participants come from all walks of life - diverse community groups, schools, visual and performing artists - all ages, cultures, genders and abilities.
Conference of the Birds celebrates the natural environment & the region's First Nations community, our cultural diversity and artistry.A series of ritual-art installations & performances embedded in landscape 2km along the Boolarra-Mirboo North rail trail will enchant audiences as they walk from dusk into night. Fire & light installations / projections & sound-scapes light the trail to a grand finale event at 'The Meadows'. Currently the very beginning of the art-walk is being created in collaboration with Gunaikurnai Elders & community to create The Valley of the Quest & will take place on Saturday 25th May 2024 in Centenary Park Boolarra.
The Broader Project
a biennial art-walk
This cross-artform ritual performance both tells a story & manifests it - an experience of community inclusion building strength and wisdom in each other. Cradled by a collective love & commitment to 'care for country' the entire project is guided by & created in collaboration with Gunaikurnai elders & community. Funding is currently being sought to further support the realisation of the project as a whole. This will enable the creation of each of the 5 remaining valleys. Local artists will each interpret one of the valleys from the text using cross art-forms. ‘Conference of the Birds’ has potential to become a biennial contemporary artwork. As a ʻritual processʼ this durational & participatory event will nimbly respond to the requirements of the times, & in both form & content be a reflection of where we find ourselves in these uncertain times.
Coming soon!
photo: courtesy Africa Centre
about.
Douglas & Mackay
Gilbert Douglas & Margie Mackay are co-Artistic Directors of the works they create,
and are based in Boolarra in the Latrobe Valley, West Gippsland, Australia.
D&M create art events from intimate & indoor to epic-scale & site-specific.
Best described as 'contemporary ceremonies' their works blur boundaries between art & ritual.
Grounded in place & moment, these events are richly textured explorations of participatory art,
ceremonial & choreographic forms, with "art of community" practices.
D&M are committed to creating works of high artistic merit & infectious community spirit by coordinating teams of collaborators, of all abilities & identities, in emplaced works that speak to the spirit of the times. Much of their work takes place in outdoor & non conventional theatre spaces, utilising the aesthetic & artistic possibilities of varied & often challenging sites.
Highly experienced & respected practitioners in community cultural development, they have collaborated in works across Australia, Zimbabwe and in South Africa, & individually throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, USA, South America and Australia.
The Valley of Harmony & Unity : Funding & Support
