Conversation with the Moonah Tree

Zahidah holds a Master of Visual Arts from Monash University (2011) and is currently a PhD student at Deakin University. She believes art has a catalysing role towards environmental protection and has the capacity to influence laws and individual attitudes. She aims to contribute to the protection of her own homeland in Syria by raising awareness of the beauty and importance of the mangroves and wetlands. Conversation with the Moonah Tree describes the feelings and challenges of the artist who moved to live in Australia. A tree that grew its roots in Syria, Lebanon, and the Emirates until mid June 2017 then moved to live in Australia and has to adapt with the new land. A challenge to the land to accept the strange tree and to the tree to grow in a new land, both needing time. This painting shows the self, represented in a little figure wearing a Syrian brocade dress trying to talk with the Australian land represented in an old native tree.