Advocacy group Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic is seeking community memories and memorabilia for an upcoming exhibition about the fight to keep the region free of coal and coal seam gas.
The deadline is 10 March for locals to notify the group about items, and stories they would like to contribute to the exhibition, with items to be physically delivered at a later date.
The ‘Moving Mountains’ exhibition will go from 17 June to 3 September at The Centre as part of Council’s 2023 cultural program.
It will mark one year from mining company Arrow Energy’s 2022 withdrawal of lease tenements over the Scenic Rim, a decade after the famous Kerry Blockade.
In a statement calling for contributions, Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic reflected on the journey to now.
“The Kerry Blockade in January 2012 was a landmark event. Ten days of vigilant protest, nine arrests and blockading by local farmers, business owners, and community that ended with the iconic “Hats Down” action which saw Arrow Energy’s drill rig drive over farmers’ hats much as they had ridden roughshod over our community from the beginning of their interactions,” they wrote.
“But on June 24th, 2022, Arrow Energy finally withdrew its lease tenements over the Scenic Rim, and after 10 long years of uncertainty our community could finally celebrate a coal and gas free region into the future.”
They said the exhibition was about celebrating the anniversary of the 2022 announcement and recording the history of community actions under the Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic banner.
“The Scenic Rim has moved mountains since 2011 when ‘Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic’ (KTSRS) was formed as a sub-committee of BOSS (Boonah Organisation for a Sustainable Shire), to educate and gather community together in the fight to keep our region coal and coal seam gas free,” they wrote.
“With your help we plan to record the significance of those past achievements, to celebrate the positive impacts and possibilities for our region into the future and to recognise that all this is only reality because over a decade ago our wonderful community had the vision and care to work together to protect the values of our Scenic Rim.”
For more information contact BOSS President Erica Bates on ebsportz@bigpond.com or 0417 720 352.
