By Zoë Sadokierksi, Ceridwen Dovey, Thom van Dooren, Julia Kindt, Andrew Burrell
©Zoë Sadokierksi
Storying Animals in Public Places
As part of the ‘Fabulous Species/Human-Animal Relationships’ workshop (January 29-30, 2024), we had the pleasure of hosting this amazing session, ‘Storying Animals in Public Places’, featuring two animal projects, designed by a stellar interdisciplinary team from Australia. Please see below for their original abstract and the session recording, together with some updates.
Storying Animals in Public Places
In this session we will present an overview of two current projects focused on telling unexpected animal stories to broad public audiences. These projects are ‘Animal Allegories’ and ‘Animal Tales’ (a trail of animal stories through the Chau Chak Wing Museum in Sydney). The projects work in a variety of media, including written texts, audio and video, illustration, augmented reality, and the creation of an immersive audio trail. In different ways, they seek to draw audiences into encounters with animals that will challenge, provoke, and redo their sense of the world and our relationships with other species. The projects are both grounded in the understanding that as we adapt to frightening new ecological realities, and as we fight to keep the future liveable for all creatures, the power of imagination plays a critical, if underappreciated, role. We know stories can’t save the world. But they can provide moments of respite, transporting us into an imaginative realm where new possibilities shimmer briefly into view.
This is an absolutely amazing animated logo of Animal Allegories, beautifully embodying the visiaul-texual collaboration between the artist Zoë Sadokierksi and the writer Ceridwen Dovey. Please visit their website to find out about their powerful allegories and updates.
‘Animal Tales’ has since then launched the animal trail project which they discussed in the session, which has the full name, ‘A Curious Trail of Animal Tales‘. With its interactive map and immersive app, it allows visitors to explore fascinating objects and stories in the Chau Chak Wing Museum in Sydney.
Thom van Dooren also participated in our crow fable session, designed by Jo Wimpenny; Ceridwen Dovey’s two fable-films Moonrise (2021) and Requiem (2016) were shown in the ‘AI and Other Scientific Fables’ symposium, organised by the Chris Danta. Please follow the links to find out more
Zoë Sadokierksi is a designer, creative producer and Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney School of Design.
Ceridwen Dovey is a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction, and a filmmaker.
Thom van Dooren is Professor of Environmental Humanities in the School of Humanities and Deputy Director of the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney.
Julia Kindt is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Sydney.
Andrew Burrell is Senior Lecturer in the School of Design at the University of Technology Sydney.