Saturday Oct 11, 10.30am-2.30pm

Food River is part of Rivers Meeting, a socially engaged art and environment project that focuses on Kadlitipari, the Gawler River.

This event is hosted at The Food Forest a 15 hectare permaculture property 6km down stream from the town of Gawler with the River FLOWING along its northern boundary.

Through a series of First Nations engagements, school and community workshops, environmental and creative research, collaborative artworks have been made under creative guidance of Laura Wills, sharing the river’s stories. Art works from the Rivers Meeting project will be displayed along the river.

This special event also includes a ‘tasting experience’ and guided walk along this section of the river where you can engage with the local environment. Listen to the sounds of the wind in the trees, the flow of water, the calls of birds. View the artworks, taste something from nature and hear stories of the water as it flows to the coast at the International Bird Sanctuary.

The food will celebrate the 3 main stages of the river; the Hills, the Plains and the Coast. Canapes will be created to capture the essence of these stages as guests stroll the riverside, followed by a lunch dish highlighting the organic produce of The Food Forest.

The chef is Kane Pollard, award winning food magician and owner of Topiary and PLACE, Culinary Director of Ondeen, and Food Curator of Tasting Australia. Sense of place, produce, and the artistic patterns created by nature inspire what Kane puts on the plate, whether it’s in the comfort of his restaurants or out in the wild! By the Gawler River his cuisine will capture the journey of water through food; a delicious FLOW!

The artist, Laura Wills is a Tarntanya Adelaide based visual artist who's practice is centred around collaboration, participation and local ecologies. Her approach is site responsive, often connecting people together and to nature. Her work includes investigations of mapping, botanical relationships and food security issues.

The Food Forest is a 20 hectare organic farm and learning centre that has been refining permaculture design strategies, building community and restoring a uniquely rich part of the Gawler River, that provides water, biodiversity and ecological stability to its orchards and gardens as well as a serene environment to commune with nature.

Indigenous interpreter and artist Violet Buckskin has been working with Laura on the Rivers Meeting school art projects in Gawler. She runs workshops in her traditional craft, art and food and she is known for vibrant public art. Violet will open the Food River event with a Welcome to Country.

Note: All dietary requirements can be catered for if we’re told 2 weeks prior to the event. We will have very limited access to ingredients on the day to accommodate any last minute requests.

We will send an email with more information about the event, closer to the day.

This event is kindly supported by the Gawler Environment Centre, with funding from Northern and Yorke Landscape Board, Nature Festival, Carclew and Gawler Environment & Heritage Association.