Ravenshoe Wraiths and Lost Giants of the Atherton Tablelands
The Atherton Tablelands Foundation’s Ravenshoe Wraiths sculpture tableau plays a key role in the Foundation’s ‘Lost Giants of the Atherton Tablelands – Ice Age to Climate Change’ project.
The Tablelands Regional Council gave the project the green light to establish the founding sculpture of the project which is designed to help tell the inspiring story of the unique natural and cultural heritage of the Atherton Tablelands, bringing into much sharper focus the immensely rich environment first encountered by First Nations people and the remaining unique physical and cultural elements still to be found in today’s natural and cultural landscapes.
To date, the Tablelands have tended to be overshadowed by better-known areas such as the Daintree, so the region remains the hidden gem of Australia’s natural and cultural heritage.
The Ravenshoe Wraiths will mark the start of setting the record straight, using World class artwork to inspire the wider community and forthcoming generations. The Ravenshoe Wraiths are intended to be the founding element of what we hope will be one of Australia’s largest public art projects.
Publicly accessible high-quality bronzes are rare in regional Australia but done well, are immensely tactile and encourage viewers into an immediately intimate relationship with the subject – no matter their age, gender, ethnicity, or cultural affiliation. They are therefore perfect for leveraging an understanding of the full cultural and natural history of the landscape and an exciting route to gain much deeper empathy with the amazing contemporary natural and cultural diversity of the Atherton Tablelands.
The Foundation has chosen Ravenshoe to found its ‘Lost Giants’ project, as it sits on the immensely important natural and cultural ecotone between the wet and dry tropics and is the gateway to the southern end of the Atherton Tablelands. Since the end of the large-scale timber industry, it has tended to be the economic Cinderella of the Tablelands and the Foundation hopes that the recognition this project will bring will help set it on the road to prosperity.
The Ravenshoe Wraiths are designed to act as a catalyst to bring together the wider community. Ravenshoe is Queensland’s highest town and because of its altitude and special climate, its district is one of the most biodiverse in Australia. Fostering community pride in Ravenshoe’s outstanding natural setting and sharing its unique cross-community wraith-like ‘Queensland Tiger’ story have the real potential to engender a truly unique sense of place.
The sculptor Tom Tischler lives and works in Tarzali on the Atherton Tablelands and has over 300 publicly exhibited bronzes world-wide, with major works in cities such as Melbourne, Perth, Wellington, Dallas, Washington, and Chester. As such he is the Atherton Tablelands’ foremost sculptor in bronze and has generously provided countless pro bono hours to develop this project, during Covid 19 pandemic.
The Foundation’s Patron, Costa Georgiadis says: “Lost Giants of the Atherton Tablelands is a chance for all the community, from children to elders and everyone in between to fit new goggles and look forward into the past with a lens that can nurture answers, excavate questions and incubate solutions to the challenges that face the planet”.
UPCOMING EVENTS
PAST EVENTS
WORLD WILDLIFE DAY– 3rd March.
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UNITED NATIONS DAY OF THE FOREST – 21st March.
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Australian Institute of Horticulture Inc. 2021 Awards – February 2022. Dr Nevard, Keynote Speaker.
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ICE AGE TO CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECT
Lost Giants of the Atherton Tablelands
Although the marsupial megafauna disappeared from the Atherton Tablelands millennia ago, they shared the landscape with today’s fauna and flora. The Atherton Tablelands Foundation intends to bring these magnificent creatures back to life in the form of full-scale bronze sculptures, together with examples of contemporary birds, mammals, and reptiles.
The Foundation has commissioned a series of maquettes crafted by master sculptor Tom Tischler to be developed into full-sized bronze sculptures.
Tom Tischler is an internationally recognised wildlife sculptor and artist based at Tarzali on the Atherton Tablelands, specialising in life-sized bronze wildlife sculptures for museums, zoos, and private clients. Literally hundreds of private collectors have also acquired his smaller scale, limited edition lost wax wildlife bronzes. More than two hundred of Tom’s life-sized sculptures are on display in 90 museums, zoos, and aquariums around the world.
A qualified architect, Tom’s professional career has included: Director of Planning and Development at Perth Zoo; Head of Exhibit Design at Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand; Architect and Project Manager for the Ethiopian Wildlife Department; and Exhibits Designer for the University of Zurich Zoological Museum, Switzerland.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Foundation has commissioned a series of maquettes crafted by master sculptor Tom Tischler to be developed into full-sized bronze sculptures. The Atherton Tablelands Foundation would like to thank The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Tablelands Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland”.
“Supported by the Australian Government’s Culture, Heritage and Arts Regional Tourism (CHART) program”
