The White Bluff Project

Mutation and Metamorphosis (detail) - Jo Elliott and Karina Hall

White Bluff is a rocky headland located north of the regional city of Coffs Harbour, on the North Coast of NSW. It is surrounded by development on its landward edge and yet protected by the Solitary Islands Marine Reserve on its littoral and off-shore waters. It sits on the border of local indigenous territories. It is Crown Land - largely unknown and yet typical of a string of isolated coastal ecosystems along Australia's increasingly inhabited eastern seaboard.

While White Bluff may have no recognised national significance, it is exactly this that makes it such a shared Australian experience. The aim of the White Bluff Project was to bring together a group of artists, scientists and Coffs Coast Community members to explore their shared experience of our costal spaces — exposing concerns about the transformative effects of climate and urbanization while celebrating the beauty, fragility and unique discoveries to be found in local landscapes.

In partnership with Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, The White Bluff Project ran for nearly four years with a key aim being to demonstrate the value of art/science/community collaboration in developing new art forms and approaches to creative practice.

Jo and Jeremy were fortunate to have been part of this amazing collaboration. The project culminated in an exhibition at the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery (CHRG) from 30th October 2021 through to 15 January 2022. If you did not make it in person to the exhibition you can take a 3D virtual tour of the gallery with feature works highlighted and explained. This 3D tour is available for a limited time only.

If you would like to learn more about the White Bluff Project, you can check out the website here.

Uncharted Theories (plan B) - John Vanderkolk, Jeremy Sheehan, Mark George (image Brendan Ray)