The Ecologies Project

How climate changes culture

8 December 2024 - 16 March 2025

The Ecologies Project looks at the effects climate change has had on deep time of human culture. With First Nations voices and continuing calls for the importance of sustainability, this show asks: how does a changing ecology change our culture?

Ten thousand years ago the Mornington Peninsula did not exist. The Bunurong / BoonWurrung people were People of the River not People of the Sea and their traditional lands extended to what is now the top of the north-west/central Tasmania. Climate changes culture. The current climate calamity differs from previous mega-changes in that it has come from us; our colonial, extractionist and capitalist culture has changed the climate.

The exhibition looks at generational conversations about climate, what the changes might look and feel like and what we are creating now that will make it into a wider cultural milieu. With over 60 works, including photographs, painting, prints, installation, video and sound work, the exhibition features artists Maree Clarke, Aunty Netty Shaw, Megan Cope, Sue Ford, Jill Orr, Rosemary Laing, Linda Tegg, Joseph Beuys, Jacobus Capone, Nicholas Mangan, Yandell Walton and others.

A long table discussion as well as workshops and a series of writings will be part of the programs for this exhibition. The Gallery will also take part in an active conversation around the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s ‘Net Zero 2040’ target Action Plan and what that means for us.