Gallery Profile ⟶ Western Plains Cultural Centre (NSW)
This winter Experimenta are heading to Dubbo to launch our 8th touring show Experimenta Life Forms at Western Plains Cultural Centre. We’re very excited to share this show with audiences and we chat with Gallery Curator Kent Buchanan.
Q: Thanks for having us again Kent! What about the Experimenta Life Forms exhibition do you think will be of most interest to your audiences?
Our audiences will be very interested in the mix of materiality as well as the diverse concepts and subject matter. Given our rural proximity, the show will resonate with our unique understanding of the natural world and the role of science, art and technology in terms of dealing with the many challenges we face, not least of which is climate change.
Q: Western Plains Cultural Centre hosts a number of exhibitions at the same time – tell us about some of the other exciting programs happening.
We will have a three other shows on display – in our Museum will be Capturing Nature: Early Photography at the Australian Museum 1857-1893, which features wonderful historical photos from the Australian Museum Archive. In the Gallery will be a ceramic exhibition by a local artist from Gilgandra, Melissa Ryan called Not Fragile Like a Flower, and also in our gallery will be the latest iteration of our Animal in Art collection exhibitions. Predator Becomes Prey examines our collection through the lens of the predator/prey symbiosis.
Q: What is special about the gallery collection theme?
The collection is unique in that our specialisation is the animal. This allows us to explore a whole range of issues related to our environment, species, animal/human interaction and much more.
Q: Are there any life forms native to the Dubbo area that you want to share with us?
There are many species that live in the Dubbo area, including monotremes, marsupials, reptiles and birds. Many of these can be found elsewhere, but of particular interest are the Glossy Black-Cockatoo and Mallee fowl.
Experimenta Life Forms: International Triennial of Media Art explores the changing notions of life by 26 contemporary artists. Presenting at Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo (NSW) 2 July – 18 September 2022