𝙎𝙚𝙢𝙞-𝙍𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡

Image Lucy Stackpool, Turning Circle, 2023. Image courtesy of Brenton Mc Geachie

Lucy Stackpool

Friday 27 October – Sunday 19 November

Opening Thursday 26 October 6-8pm

Between 2020 and 2022, for first time in four decades, population growth in regional Australia exceeded that of the capital cities. This change was propelled by two factors: the unique circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic and the flow on rising costs of urban housing and lifestyles.

 Semi-rural areas sit as a distinct zone between the city and the country. Farming on smaller acreage is limited, and many of these areas also benefit from mains electricity, tarred roads, better internet coverage and other services. Semi-rural areas are close enough to travel into cities for work, education, and entertainment, but distant enough to encounter common disruption to services, insecure water and fuel sources, increased dangers travelling on roads, and greater social isolation. 

Population increases in the rural-urban fringe are not without significant environmental impact. Bushland is cleared for construction, exisiting holdings are subdivided and the landscape is controlled more closely. This exhibition examines semi-rural landscapes south of Canberra, focused around Mount Rob Roy and Mount Campbell. Semi-rural infrastructure and services are referenced as markers of human life imposed on the landscapes.