Refugium @ Light in Winter 2016, Fed Square

Inspired by Melbourne’s unique climate, artist Tanja Beer brings together flora and fauna of past and present to create a bush refuge – a ‘Refugium’, in the heart of Fed Square.

Refugium is a temporary art installation – a ‘bush refuge’ in the heart of the urban landscape of Federation Square – which seeks to engage the public in regenerative potential. The work explores biodiversity in the city through participatory art making with native plants. It includes a number of free public workshops in kokedama making (an ancient Japanese technique of wrapping plants in moss and string) which employs the community to create mini plant-sculptures that will contribute to a growing exhibition in the Fracture Gallery. On the 17-18 June, the plants will be temporally installed in the centre of the public square for the opening of The Light in Winter festival, before being distributed into the broader Melbourne community to bring greenery into the wider city.

At the heart of Refugium is the investigation of alternative narratives for engaging urban communities with ecological themes and practices. Accompanied by an interspecies sound design and inspired by Melbourne’s unique climate, the project brings together flora and fauna of past and present to examine the city’s unique stories of place. Refugium uses sound to consider how urban spaces have transformed past ecosystems; how multi-layered historic and contemporary landscapes intersect with human trajectories and spatial hierarchies; and how these stories might be revealed to audiences through new forms of communication.  The 20 minute soundscape created by Nick Roux follows the unique seasons of the region and takes influence from Tim Entwisle’s ‘Sprinter and Sprummer’ – a concept which redefines Australia’s seasons based on the climatic habits of plants.

(Source: ecoscenography.com)