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Ghostnet art in northern Australia

An environmental drama is being played out in the north of Australia: drift nets – known as ghost nets - from industrial fishing are causing the death of many marine animals and ending up on the coast.

In 2004, the GhostNets Australia (GNA) association, made up of researchers, Indigenous coastal rangers, volunteers and artists, undertook the task of saving animals as well as of recovering, recycling and valorizing these nets.

Since 2008, Sue Ryan, a visual artist and the coordinator of a Cape York arts centre (Queensland), has been committed to developing artistic activities using ghost nets. Several communities have thus begun to create sculptures depicting marine animals which are both endangered species and totemic figures.

The artists of Erub Arts and Cultural Centre posing with ghostnet works
Photograph by Lynnette Griffiths, 2015
© Erub Arts