Exhibition boosts Blue Mountains’ visitation
Australia’s only sculpture exhibition held in an Australian rainforest, Sculpture at Scenic World, is estimated to have attracted an additional 22,000 visitors to the Blue Mountains over the past month.
Wrapping up yesterday, Sunday, 8 May, Sculpture at Scenic World’s boost to visitor numbers supports the event’s State classification as an event of regional significance as announced by Destination NSW earlier this year.
With more than 93,000 people viewing the rainforest exhibition over four weeks – a 30 % increase on last year, Scenic World’s Managing Director, Anthea Hammon, said the popularity of the event with visitors from all over the world was undisputable.
“The uniqueness of Sculpture at Scenic World – from its location to how people access the exhibition on the Scenic Railway or the Scenic Cableway – has a magical appeal that is different to what you can experience anywhere else,” she said.
“This year’s 28 sculptures and installations were all very distinct and viewing them from the elevated boardwalk allowed our guests to get up close to the artworks and interact with many of them giving each person an individual experience.
“That’s the thing about Sculpture at Scenic World – about the artworks – how every person experiences it and interprets it is different,” Anthea said. “It’s one reason we have a People’s Choice Award where our guests can nominate their favourite artwork.”
With more than 4,500 votes received in the $1,000 Carrington Hotel People’s Choice Award, Blue Mountains artist Ian Swift, was announced as the winner of the prize at the exhibition’s closing function, held yesterday at The Carrington Hotel, Sunday, 8 May.
Ian’s work, Drop Bear Training Camp, captured the public’s imagination with its comic, heroic and iconic depiction of a squadron of Koalas.
He said the People’s Choice award was a special moment as visitors to the exhibition have shown an appreciation for the issues of the time, climate change and terrorism.
“Just like the conflicts of today and the issue of climate change, the koalas represent the challenge in reclaiming their lost pristine habitat,” Ian said.
The winning work of the 2016 Scenic World Major Award, Michael McIntyre’s, Extinct Markers, also drew a great deal of attention during the exhibition because of its creativity and confronting subject matter (an extensive series of coloured woven marker discs embedded in the rainforest, each mimicking an individual Australian species pushed to extinction).
Other prizes announced at the closing function included the $5,000 Artist Peer Award and the $2,000 Scenic World Staff Choice Award both won by collaborative artists Selena Springett and Alessandro Berini, with their immersive sound experience Whispers of the forest.
“Sculpture at Scenic World has exceeded our expectations and the feedback of our visitors has been overwhelmingly positive – we can’t wait to host the exhibition again next year,” Anthea said.
