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Twenty artists, from nine of the twenty-three Flyway countries, have created prints inspired by the idea of the Flyway. In March 2014, one print from each edition was posted, unprotected, along the Flyway and back, echoing the birds’ journey, adding the impression of migration and distance to the works and referencing the weathering of the migrating birds’ plumage. The prints, weathered and pristine, were first exhibited together as part of the Adelaide Oz Asia Festival 2014. After this inaugural exhibition, the prints have been almost continually exhibited in Australia and overseas.
 
Aims
- To bring together artists from a wide variety of cultural and artistic backgrounds
- To investigate the notion of the Flyway artistically and personally
- To publicise the age-old linking of our countries through the natural phenomenon of the Flyway
- To support the conservation and protection of migratory shorebirds

The Flyway
The annual departure and arrival of migratory birds is a spectacle that has symbolic meaning in numerous cultures around the world. Many of these birds travel vast distances, crossing several countries and entire continents during their annual cycle of migration.
 
The East-Asian Australasian Flyway extends from arctic Russia and North America to New Zealand and is used by over 50 million migratory waterbirds. The countries that comprise the East-Asian Australasian Flyway are: the USA (Alaska); Russia (Siberia); Mongolia; China; North Korea; South Korea; Japan; the Philippines; Vietnam; Laos; Thailand; Cambodia; Myanmar; Bangladesh; India; Malaysia; Singapore; Brunei; Indonesia; Timor; Papua New Guinea; Australia and New Zealand.
 
The Artists
The twenty artists who are participating in the Flyway Print Exchange range from recent graduates and emerging artists, to academics and established artists of long standing. The artists and the countries they represent are:
 
Australia:  Alexis Beckett, Kate Gorringe-Smith, Helen Kocis Edwards, Vida Pearson (Victoria); Amanda O’Sullivan (Queensland);  Sharon Keighran, Violet Hammer, Gret Mingundoo Allwood  (Waralungku Arts Centre, Borroloola, Northern Territory);
New Zealand: Celia Walker;
Indonesia: Syahrizal Pahlevi (Yogyakarta);
Singapore: Tham Pui San;
India: Radhika Gupta (Mumbai) & Kavita Shah (Vadodara);
South Korea: Hyun Tae Lee;
Japan: Kyoko Imazu;
China: Cui Xiao Hua (Sichuan), Ni Jianming (Anhui) & Feng Jiaming (Guangdong);
USA: Garry Kaulitz, Edwin Mighell (Alaska).
 
The Prints
Each artist has created an edition of 30 prints. 20 of these were compiled into folios, which were given to the participating artists. One print from each edition was posted along the Flyway and back to echo the birds’ journey. Three sets of pristine prints have been retained for exhibition purposes (one permanently in South Australia), along with the ‘travelled’ prints. The remaining 6 prints are available for sale, with proceeds to go to BirdLife Australia for the research and conservation of shorebirds.
 
This video was made by Green Skills, Denmark, WA. Green Skills takes pride in its continued success in developing innovative projects that lead the way in sustainability and environmental conservation. With offices in Murdoch, Albany and Denmark, Green Skills delivers strategic programs addressing local, regional and national priorities.Green Skills projects are designed for community engagement, environmental improvement and social education across all sectors of the community, for the benefit of all.
Fundraising
Each artist in the project generously donated their work to raise money for BirdLife Australia’s shorebird research projects. By the beginning of 2016, the Flyway Print Exchange had raised nearly $17,000 for BirdLife Australia’s, the first $10,000 of which funded BirdLife Australia’s 2015 Indigenous Grant for Bird Research and Conservation. To acknowledge the contribution of Indigenous Australians to our understanding of the environment, BirdLife Australia was proud to award the BirdLife Australia’s 2015 Indigenous Grants for Bird Conservation and Research to Milingimbi & Outstations Progress Resource Association (Crocodile Islands Rangers), Djunbunji Land & Sea Program, and Kakadu National Park. The grants support Indigenous communities to conduct science-based conservation on their Traditional Lands.
 
Indigenous knowledge of native Australian birds, their life cycle and habitat needs is profound and has made a substantial contribution to the scientific study of birds in this country. With the creation of the Indigenous Grant for Bird Research and Conservation, BirdLife Australia wishes to acknowledge this contribution and facilitate the further engagement of Indigenous Australians in research and conservation of our native birds. The 2015 Indigenous Grant for Bird Research and Conservation was focused on migratory birds and Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas.

Many of the Flyway Print Exchange prints are still available for sale at $200 (AUD) + postage & handling. The $200 goes directly to BirdLife Australia's shorebird conservation projects. Please send enquiries to Kate Gorringe-Smith via the contact page on this website or on the website of The Flyway Print Exchange.
 
Exhibitions
Since September 2014 The Flyway Print Exchange has been exhibited almost continually. Exhibitions have been held in South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Indonesia. 

The Flyway Print Exchange is a travelling exhibition. If you are interested in exhibiting it at your gallery please contact Kate Gorringe-Smith via the contact page on this website. The project has also used been successfully used as a 'seed project' to inspire local artists to make work about the shorebirds in their local area and to engage communities with their local environment. Such exhibitions have been held in Portland, Victoria, Mount Gambier, SA, and at Charles Darwin University in Darwin. There is no charge to host The Flyway Print Exchange.

A review of the project's exhibition at Melbourne's Immigration Museum can be read here: http://rightnow.org.au/writing-cat/review/why-shorebirds-in-the-immigration-museum/ ​