Creative Encounters at BigCi
About
Creative Encounters - A Day of Immersion, Listening and MakingSunday 15 March | 10.30am – 4.00pm
📍 BigCi 82 Hanlons Rd North, Bilpin (Blue Mountains)
How can you get more creative in your encounters with nature?
Creative Encounters is a full-day, immersive experience that invites participants to slow down, engage deeply with the place, and explore new ways of noticing, listening and making.
Led by artists-in-residence, and conservationist Yuri Bolotin, the day brings together guided walking, hands-on workshops and collective reflection - all shaped by the unique landscape and pristine wilderness surrounding BigCi.
Program Overview:
Welcome & Orientation | Daniel, Yuri and Rae Bolotin, BigCi Directors
10.30 - 10.45
Daniel, Yuri and Rae Bolotin welcome you to BigCi - a place where community meets country, inviting you to listen closely, get curious, and let the landscape lead the way.
Session 1 | Penelope Richardson (Munich,Germany)
Survival Strategies We Can Learn From
10.45 - 12.30
Explore how plants, animals and ecosystems adapt, cooperate and thrive - and what these strategies might offer our own creative and communal lives.
This hands-on workshop includes mindful walking, collecting, experimental drawing techniques (including frottage and blind drawing), and collaborative mapping. Participants will create their own artwork to take home.
No drawing experience required.
Lunch
12.30 – 1.00
BYO lunch (light refreshments provided)
Session 2 | Jana Irmert (Berlin, Germany), Winner of BigCi Environmental Award 2025
Deep Listening
1.00 – 2.00
A guided deep listening workshop combining listening exercises and a soundwalk. This session gently shifts attention away from the visual, inviting participants to experience place through sound, movement and presence.
Session 3 | Pippa Lattey (Vancouver, Canada)
Making by Melding
2.15 – 4.00
A tactile sculpture making workshop exploring how meaning emerges when natural and human-made materials are combined. Participants will work with grasses, bark, found waste materials and simple tools to create small sculptural forms, while reflecting on our relationships to materials and value.
Who Is This For?
Beginners and experienced makers alike
Anyone curious about creativity, materials and the natural world (ages 10+)
No prior artistic experience is required - just curiosity and openness.
Practical Information
*Mostly outdoors, with sheltered spaces available
*Wear comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing
*Please bring: water bottle, hat, sunscreen, BYO lunch
*Wet-weather plans are in place - the program will proceed rain or shine
Tickets
Adults: $180
Young people (10–17): $60
Places are limited.
Date
Sunday 15 March 2026 10:30 AM - 4:00 PM (UTC+11)Location
BigCi
82 Hanlons Rd Nth, Bilpin NSW 2758
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Creative Encounters at BigCi
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