“Where is the best Salmon Gum?” Competition

 

53rd Annual “Where is the Best Salmon Gum?” Competition2001socially engaged projectinimitables
  Artwork, image and photography © Perdita Phillipsfieldwork
in collaboration with judges, participants and very nice trees 
Kellerberrin/Tammmin salmon gums (Eucalyptus salmonophloia), digitally printed poster poster, edition 6/7 available$440
variable: 42 entries  
Project: What is the colour of Salmon Gum?2001Shires of Tammin and Kellerberrin 
Exhibition: IASKA opening2001IASKA, Kellerberrin 
 

The 53rd Annual “Where is the Best Salmon Gum?” Competition socially engaged project (eclogue/performance) involved the organisation of a competition for the best salmon gum in the rural shires of Kellerberrin and Tammin. It was part of the IASKA (now Spaced) Open Spaces Residency Program.

Salmon Gum trees are an icon of the surrounding wheat-sheep landscape when they were the largest, oldest and most dominant members of the woodland communities that were cleared for agriculture. With the current problems of salinisation, the survival and regeneration of Salmon Gums is symbolic of repair of ecosystem processes throughout the region. The attracted 42 entries in the four categories of Best Tree, Best Stand, Best Seedling or Sapling, and Tree with the Most Descendants. The entries were judged by local identities using the criteria of conservation values, cultural values and aesthetic values.