Byron Climate Conversations artist selected

BYRON Shire Council has selected local Indigenous artist Karla Dickens for its $5000 Climate Conversations commission.

The creative initiative invites Northern Rivers artists to collaborate with the community and explore ways to adapt, reorganise and evolve in the face of climate change through the creative arts.

Byron Shire Council gallerist Sarah Harvey said the high number of applications were engaging, thought-provoking and innovative.

“Given the urgency of our climate situation, it is very encouraging to see so many artists exploring ideas around climate change to generate these important conversations,” Ms Harvey said.

Artists were invited to propose a collaborative, community-focused project and exhibition on the theme of ‘Rising’. Dickens’s winning entry was Rise and Fall, curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham at Bondi Pavilion and commissioned by Waverley Council.

A Wiradjuri woman who has lived on Bundjalung country for many years, Dickens explores climate catastrophe from a First Nations perspective and through her own lived experience.

Her large-scale photographic works, sculptures and installations convey the urgency of what it means to fight for survival and change in a world hanging by a thread, where shared responsibility for action is crucial.

“We are very excited to have this project in Byron Bay and the opportunity to work with Karla, a nationally recognised artist,” Ms Harvey said.

The exhibition will be presented for Climate Conversations 2025 at the Lone Goat Gallery in Byron Bay from July 12 to August 9.

The gallery will present a series of events, talks and workshops to encourage deeper conversations and immersive experiences, highlighting the growing urgency to meet climate challenges.