Since a spectacle requires a viewer, spectacle has an inherent relationship to mediation, particularly in the age of image-based social media. Nathan Greenhill, head of design for WA’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, noted the paradox of botanical tourism – tourists who come to watch natural spectacles such as the “wildflower season” are good for the economy, but their presence can threaten the same species that brought visitors there. Kingsley’s presentation, as well as that of novel plant breeder Digby Growns, established the first instance of “spectacle” in the conference program as the “spectacular” flora of West Australian plants. He noted the diverse flora in the picture, as well as the presence of smoke indicating the presence of Indigenous fire practices. Curtin University botanist Kingsley Dixon, in his presentation, discussed an early European depiction of the state’s landscape – the incredible, 2.5 metre-long Panoramic View of King George’s Sound, Part of the Colony of Swan River by Robert Havell, published in 1834. Cape Town, for instance, seems more botanically similar to Perth than Sydney does, sharing an edge of Gondwanaland as it does. Western Australia seems – and has sought to be – a separate country to the rest of Australia. While the Dutch practice’s design for Federation Square – and its role in helping engage Australian landscape architecture with European design culture – was vitally important to the development of the profession here, their work as presented did not seem radically better or different to that which has come out of Australia in the past 10 years I guess we (Australian landscape architecture) have “made it.” This was certainly the case with Darius Reznek of Karres en Brands’s presentation this year. However, part of the “spectacle” is the internet and “the socials,” which have catapulted Australian landscape design to the world stage, revealing the undeniable innovation of Australian landscape architecture and making the global, well, not so special. The “international keynote” is a normal feature of a design conference in Australia, where the antipodean locals learn from those in the “old world.” One of the great successes of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ adoption of the “festival” model of curation – where city-based teams pitch and develop their own themes and select their own speakers – has been a focus on the local. The view of the Perth CBD from Kaarta Koomba (Kings Park).
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