Flotsam and Jetsam 2026: Creatives gather at Fisherman’s Wharf to collect ocean debris to turn into art works

Trash was collected at Fisherman’s Wharf on Monday morning with the aim of being turned into treasure, as eager artists gathered their materials for Geraldton’s 15th annual Flotsam and Jetsam exhibition. The rubbish collection day is the prelude to the environmental exhibition hosted at Latitude Jewellers in May, comprised entirely of artwork made out of ocean debris, like ropes, plastic bottles, planks of wood and discarded floats. The rubbish collected from the Abrolhos Island over the long weekend was laid out for artists to browse, and a new partnership with Regional Sounds meant that buskers provided the soundtrack to the morning. Flotsam and Jetsam’s eldest volunteer Lesley Colliver, 83, said the drive was acheiving what it was supposed to — helping to rid the ocean of rubbish. “Even though there are still piles of rubbish and plastic bottles, there is definitely not as many as what we’ve had in the past — it’s becoming less and less each year,” she said. Ms Colliver said the volunteer group also found two heavy duty fishing nets which had washed ashore. “There was a huge, great, big heavy net, which we worked out was probably the end of a trawl net, and a deep sea trawler which had come adrift somehow, we think it maybe came down from Indonesia,” she said. This year’s theme of Flotsambury, celebrating music and art, was an inspiration source for this year’s initiative. About 130 artists have registered their interest in showcasing a piece at the exhibition, but the collection day attracted much larger numbers, with most of the rubbish gone earlier in the day. The brains behind the Flotsam and Jetsam initiative Pia Boschetti said she encouraged everyone to enter the exhibition. “If you need more supplies for your art, anything left over will be left outside of Latitude Direct,” she said. The 2026 Flotsam and Jetsam exhibition will open on May 23 in Latitude Jewellers.