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Artists advocating for the environment

17 September 2008

Artwork: Morning mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River
Peter Dombrovskis, Morning mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River 1979

Chairman of the Monash Sustainability Institute and former Minister for Environment, Water and Climate Change Professor John Thwaites will officially open The Ecologies Project at the Monash University Museum of Art on Saturday 20 September.

The Museum's curators Geraldine Barlow and Dr Kyla McFarlane chose the title of the exhibition to highlight the need to find a balance with the ecological systems that sustain us.

"This timely exhibition will include work by 40 artists who are exploring issues of sustainability, climate change and the idea of ecology as both form and metaphor," Ms Barlow said.

"Artists have long drawn inspiration from nature, as well as being advocates for a sustainable relationship between humanity and the environment."

Dr McFarlane said The Ecologies Project also reflected the important sustainability research being undertaken across Monash.

"We have asked researchers from the Monash Institute of Sustainability and from other faculties to contribute text responses to the exhibition catalogue to highlight their important work," Dr McFarlane said.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said The Ecologies Project provided an exemplary survey of the complex ways in which we shape and are shaped by our environment.

"The artworks and writing it showcases are indicative of the depth and diversity of critical reflection on sustainability issues taking place at Monash, and by artists more widely," Professor Larkins said.

"In developing this exhibition the Monash University Museum of Art makes an important contribution to our common project of building a more sustainable future for this and future generations."

The launch of The Ecologies Project will be held on Saturday 20 September from 2 pm to 4 pm with opening remarks by Professor Thwaites at 2.45 pm. For further information visit the Monash University Museum of Art website.