Arts
Alex Wisser is an artist and creative producer based in the township of Kandos in mid-western New South Wales. In 2013 he co-founded the Cementa Contemporary Arts Festival in Kandos and took up permanent residence there with his family.Along with Cementa, Alex is a co-founder of the Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation where his practice continues to focus on the challenges and opportunities of making art in a regional context with a strong emphasis on socially engaged art and its ability to support cultural change.In this conversation, Scotia and Alex discuss:The regenerative farming movement and how the arts can support the process of change in communities facing serious social, economic and environmental challenges to their way of lifeThe capacity of art to provide non-directed space for people to gather and create social cohesion and reflection on complex issuesThe example of a solar energy farming project in the town of Little Hartley in the Blue Mountains and how the combination of arts, science and farming can provide opportunities to bridge the urban-rural divideA research framework that Alex is currently developing in partnership with Creative Recovery Network that aims to create a toolset for artists to better perceive the social realities of communities in which they are workingAlex’s shift to working in a community context and how it has made his practice more embodied and connected to the world beyond traditional arts communitiesLinks:Cementahttps://cementa.com.auKandos School of Cultural Adaptationhttps://www.ksca.landWelcome to Kandos, poster by Ian Millishttps://www.ksca.land/origin-storySolar energy for the farmer, Little Hartley project:https://www.ksca.land/mark-swartz-projectBula Mirri Farm Solar Project Video:https://www.ksca.land/blogfeed/2020/6/10/the-solar-project-video