Wild weather: what's next for Queensland's climate and photography?

Queensland is synonymous with wild weather. The online exhibition TWENTY richly documents the last two decades of our climate and its unenviable record of floods, tropical cyclones, droughts, and even inland tsunamis. Unsurprisingly, in 2019 the QLD Government described our region as “the most natural disaster prone state in Australia”.i And our next twenty years will experience even higher temperatures, less rainfall, and more dramatic climate events – due predominantly to global warming.ii

This new era brings with it exceptional challenges. Tim Riley Walsh discusses how photography and visual culture are crucial tools that help us to understand these threats.

Read the essay. Explore the online exhibition. 

About the author

Tim Riley Walsh is a Brisbane-based writer and curator. Tim is the Australia Desk Editor for ArtAsiaPacific, as well as previously contributing to Art Monthly Australasia, Frieze, OSMOS, Eyeline, Apollo, Runway, and Artlink.Hehas a Master of Philosophy (Art History) from The University of Queensland, Brisbane. Tim is the curator of On fire, an exhibition of contemporary Queensland art focused on environmental crisis and an accompanying publication, both launching in early 2021 at the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.

References

i. “Resilient Queensland: Delivering the Queensland Strategy for Disaster Resilience,” Queensland Reconstruction Authority, https://www.qra.qld.gov.au/resilient-queensland, accessed July 24, 2020; Shane Wright and Felicity Caldwell, “Millions face high risk of natural disaster,” Brisbane Times, January 1, 2019, https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/millions-face-high-risk-of-natural-disaster20190101-p50p4z.html, accessed July 24, 2020.

ii. “Climate change in Queensland,” Queensland Government, https://www.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/68126/queensland-climate-change-impactsummary.pdf, accessed June 23, 2020