Panel discussion:

Mike Clarke (La Trobe University), Freya Mathews (La Trobe University), Matt Ruchel (Victorian National Parks Association) and Angharad Wynne-Jones (Tipping Point Australia)

NITD 1 Project Launch

The opening event for Nature in the Dark 1  was held at North Melbourne Town Hall 
Wednesday, 12 November 2012.

Nature in the Dark – a world where art and science meet

What do animals do at night when they believe they are not being watched? Nature in the Dark is a series of artistic video projects exploring the hidden world of the animals of Wombat State Forest and Bunyip State Park as never seen before on the big screen at Federation Square.

The Centre for Creative Arts, La Trobe University (CCA) and the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) have developed an extraordinary exhibition that will be screened from 23 November until 22 December 2012

CCA has brought ten artists together to work on the same photographic material the VNPA is gathering for the Caught On Camera project to profile mammalian response to fire or the absence of fire.

While scientists interpret the images for research purposes, for the artists participating in the project, the images provoke the important question: How can we relate to something we do not fully understand?

The images of animals from bandicoots, antechinus, wallabies and wombats to goats, cats and foxes are at once informative and beguiling, amusing and evocative.

MC: Norie Neumark, Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University

Moderator: Brent Clough - ABC Radio National

Panelists:
Professor Mike Clarke, Zoologist La Trobe University (PDF)
Matt Ruchel, Director of Victorian National Parks Association (PDF)
Angharad Wynne-Jones, Director of Tipping Point Australia (PDF)

Watch Freya Mathews' key note address here.

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Photo credit: Maria Miranda, 2012