Softwash – Full Foam Rinse and Spin – free experimental art

MORE than 100 artists and community members gathered last weekend to share in a series of experimental and live art experiences on the banks of the Tweed River.

Full Foam Rinse and Spin presented by the artist collective Public Palace, featured installations and performances from local and visiting artists, showcasing various contemporary art forms and ideas, as well as new works in response to the site.

Proud Minjungbal man, artist and cultural educator Mark Cora welcomed the gathering to Country with a smoking ceremony.

His installation Wind Dancers, made from hemp string, layered cane (rainforest vine), acrylic paint and Emu feathers, reflected the cyclical nature of seasons and time and the destruction of these systems.

Multi-disciplinary artist Adrienne Kenafake presented Big Scrub – an outdoor beauty spa for participants to reinvigorate their souls.

Sarah Poulgrain’s work, Weaving Work, Blanket Library, involved recycling semi-destroyed woven material, the base of which was a supply of picnic blankets for attendees to use.

“I was hoping to make something that addressed the political heaviness of the flagpole, with something that would practically benefit the people visiting the park,” Poulgrain said.

Other highlights included A Journey to the Edge of Mangrove Island – a multisensory BBQ boat eco-experience by Holiday Maker and Stubborn Stains Friendship Club, an anti-colonial space for friendship, conversation, and crafting revolutions by Lewis.

Through its three softwash events as part of the Tweed Spaces pilot project supported by Arts Northern Rivers (ANR), Public Palace is reimagining public parklands for artists and the community.

Artist, organiser, and ANR project manager Grace Dewar said the event demonstrated the need for the creative and wider community to come together.

“The artists in the program shared works that speak to the issues of our current times,” Dewar said.

“In gentle ways, they sparked conversation and invited meaningful engagement with ideas and each other.”