The Sydney Reef

2009 - Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

The Sydney Reef was a large-scale collaborative installation facilitated by In Stitches Collective — Claire Conroy, Michaela Davies and Charlotte Haywood. Developed over eleven months, the project brought together more than 500 people through workshops and community participation to create a collective coral reef from crocheted and knitted forms.

The Sydney Reef was an Australian satellite of the worldwide Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles. The project brings together mathematics, marine biology, craft and contemporary art, using the geometry of hyperbolic forms to create an imagined coral ecosystem.

The Sydney project explored the intersection of art, science and community participation, while drawing attention to the beauty and fragility of coral reef ecosystems. Hundreds of individual contributions were assembled into a single immersive installation at the Powerhouse Museum during the 2009 Ultimo Science Festival.

In Stitches Collective
Claire Conroy · Michaela Davies · Charlotte Haywood

Exhibited
Powerhouse Museum, Ultimo Science Festival, 21–30 August 2009

Project archive
The original Sydney Reef blog documents the development of the project, workshops, community participation and installation.

Read the Sydney Reef archive →

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