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Jungle Jam

20 August 2022 | A festival celebrating trees

On Saturday 20 August, Bankstown Arts Centre held Jungle Jam, a festival celebrating trees. The day's program included a tree parade around the arts precinct, music and dance performances from Prophets, Shyamla Eswaran, Heart Dancers Cultures of the World and the Vegetable Plot, an plenty of creative making workshops. The day also included the Arboreal Narratives Forum les by Costa Georgiadis.

 

Photography by Honeydieu Photography.

Decorated tree outside Bankstown Arts Centre
Costa Georgiadis in a parade
Arboreal Narratives Forum speakers
Floral entertainment from the day
music and dance performances from Prophets
henna hand tattoos
burger and fires from the event
People talking to each other
Ice cream
Kids pirate hat parade on stage
People dancing in the park
Hat parade
Heart Dancers Cultures of the World
a microscope
People sitting around a tree
People listening to a band
Costa Georgiadis taking a photo
Food truck
Jungle Jam: Arboreal Narratives Forum

As part of Jungle Jam festivities, a conversation on the significance of trees across cultures with  a special focus on their essential place in Western Sydney was held at Bankstown Arts Centre's theatre led by Costa Georgiadis. 

Meet the panellists

Costa Georgiadis

Costa Georgiadis is Australia’s most famous landscape architect and TV presenter who has an all-consuming passion for plants and people – he knows how to bring out the best in both of them and takes great pleasure in bringing them together. His holistic approach is all about gardening, the soil, and the soul.

Louise Fowler-Smith

Louise Fowler-Smith is an eco-artist and writer who has been researching the ‘Sacred Tree’ for the past two decades and has found that the practice of venerating or honouring Trees has been able to protect Trees in some parts of the world. Fowler-Smith is the Founder and President of the Tree Veneration Society Inc. 

Dean Kelly

Dean Kelly is both a South Coast NSW Saltwater Yuin, Walbunja, Dhoorga Gurandgi cultural man through his father, and Western NSW Freshwater stone country cultural Wailwan, Nypampai Man through his mother. Kelly is a member of the Botany Bay Aboriginal Community and is also accepted as belonging to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community. As a Cultural Practitioner, his true passion and cultural obligation is dedicated to the protection and preservation of Aboriginal cultural heritage. 

My Le Thi

My Le Thi came to Australia in 1985 from Central Highlands Vietnam and is a local Bankstown artist . Thi practices mixed-media, installation, sound, and video arts. Her work speaks about human conditions using symbols to express the common humanity and determination to survive. Her work has been selected as one of the HSC case studies since 2004 and was included in major exhibitions in Australia, USA and many Asian and European countries.

Sebastian Pfautsch

Sebastian Pfautsch is an Associate Professor in Urban Planning and Management at Western Sydney University. He has a master in forest management and a PhD in tree physiology. In his current research program, he investigates the practicality and effectiveness of interventions that help cooling western Sydney. Sebastian's work features regularly in the media, which in 2021 led to more than 350 headlines in 21 countries, published in 5 languages and reached more than 1 billion people.

This event was a part of the Bankstown Winter Weekends.​