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Toowoomba’s Genestreaming Journey sculpture heads to Singapore

A sculpture which tells the story of time and space in nature created by a collaboration of artists, engineers and First Nation leaders has been unveiled in Toowoomba before it finds a permanent home in Singapore.

Marli Moir, Ben Beeton, and Shannon Bauwens standing beside the Genestreaming Journey Sculpture as they farewell it to its home in Singapore Gardens by the Bay. September 6, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler
Marli Moir, Ben Beeton, and Shannon Bauwens standing beside the Genestreaming Journey Sculpture as they farewell it to its home in Singapore Gardens by the Bay. September 6, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler

A collaboration of Toowoomba artists, engineers, and local Indigenous leaders have farewelled a sculpture in the shape of a budding flower which will be homed in Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay.

Designed by local SciArt artist Ben Beeton, the three metre high sculpture is shaped like a flower ready to bloom, each petal showing First Nation art on the inside, and naturalist artworks on the outside.

Artist Ben Beeton beside the Genestreaming Journey. September 5, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler
Artist Ben Beeton beside the Genestreaming Journey. September 5, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler

The core shows the geological time scale fashioned in the rings of a tree stump, and spreads out inside to an array of Indigenous Australian stories compiled and visualised in colourful art by First Nations artists from the Bunya Peoples Aboriginal Corporation.

Walking around the circular bud on the outside are the western scientific nature drawings from contributing local artists such as internationally acclaimed scientific illustrator Mali Moir.

Shannon Bauwens, Bunya Peoples Aboriginal Corporation Cultural Services Coordinator, stands beside the Genestreaming Journey. September 5, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler
Shannon Bauwens, Bunya Peoples Aboriginal Corporation Cultural Services Coordinator, stands beside the Genestreaming Journey. September 5, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler

In collaboration with the artists, Toowoomba-based DDC engineering fitted the pieces together and will ship the artwork to Singapore this week.

The sculpture, titled the Genestreaming Journey, is a symbol of several years of work between Noongar Elder Aunty Carol Pettersen and Ben Beeton.

It is also a seed that has grown and budded into a friendship between Toowoomba and Singapore with a shared love of gardens, nature and cultural exchange.

The sculpture will be homed in Singapore at Gardens by the Bay as part of the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers display.

Marli Moir stands beside the Genestreaming Journey. September 5, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler
Marli Moir stands beside the Genestreaming Journey. September 5, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/toowoomba/toowoombas-genestreaming-journey-sculpture-heads-to-singapore/news-story/b38091cc1c249d593db7676800691ae3