Growth
The remaking of things
Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison
NGV commission for Melbourne Now 2023
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Friday 24th March – Sunday 20th August, 2023
“Today officially marks 8 billion humans on Earth. Meanwhile humanity has wiped out 70% of wild animal populations since 1970. We don’t live outside of nature”
As work continues on our 35-metre-long collage, The remaking of things, let’s meet some of the wildlife fosters currently in our care who not only inspired this piece into being, but are the reason behind it, for without our pollinators, the Grey-headed flying foxes, there are no forests.
Please meet Albert and Errol. Albert came into care at three-weeks-old. He was found on his deceased mum, who was hanging on a power line, and while his mum did not make it, he was fine and continues to do really well, all things considered. His expression seems to say he has been here before. He was followed swiftly by orphan Errol.
Errol came into care at three-and-a-half-weeks-old. He was found on the ground in someone’s back garden. He may have fallen off his mum; we’ll never know. Both Albert and Errol lost so much coming into care, being orphaned, and we are hoping to make their path back to wild possible.
Olette and little Maeve, who are here for a fortnight, are also a part of our learning through doing. We’re enjoying getting to know them all, as we watch them process things.
And so our home studio continues to evolve into a tiny shelter. Four times a day, three Grey-headed flying fox pups, Albert, Errol, and Olette, with the youngest, Maeve, on five feeds, are fed. They grow about a millimetre a day, which is endlessly impressive. Soon they'll be ready for steamed apples.
Let’s not forget the ringtail joeys. The front room enclosure is still home to Finnius, Feeney, Sid, and Noodles. Our ‘studio’ has been home to quite a few ringtails this year, by our standards, and getting the chance to observe this quartet continues what is always an adorable experience. From weighing them to their Waltz of the (sugar gum) Flowers beneath the flowering callistemon, we can’t imagine a time when we won’t have a connected curl of possums in our care.
They encourage us to think like a possum, and hopefully, they will encourage you to as well. If you are interested in planting a native garden to help our wildlife, please consider how they will be able to access the much-needed food sources. It is not safe on the ground for ringtails, so they need connecting arboreal pathways to be able to move from tree to tree.
In the outdoor enclosure, Violet, Ada, Agnès, and Hilda continue to thrive, and their coats are dense and beautiful. Please, step inside their enclosure and see for yourself. The switch to fully nocturnal is drawing ever closer.
It is lovely to watch this transformation. Over the months, after the trauma of what brought them into care (cat and dog attacks; the loss of their mums), they are getting stronger and ready for their much needed return to the wild. This growth, like our collage process, is slow and considered.
In between possums and bats, we continue to work on the details within The remaking of things. One and the same.
If you should ever see a deceased flying fox on a power line, please phone your nearest animal rescue group. If there is a pup on the mum, they will more than likely survive, if they are rescued in time.
Please contact Bev Brown of Bat Rescue Bayside (@bat_rescue_bayside), Victoria, if you find an injured bat.
0402 347 557
batrescuebayside.org.au
Please note: you need to be a qualified, vaccinated carer to handle bats.
Quote source: @ClimateHuman, 16th November, 2022
Living Planet Report 2022
Humans Have Wiped Out 70% of Animal Populations Since 1970, Study Finds
Image credit: Eugène von Guérard, Ferntree Gully, Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, 1867, plate 13 from Eugène von Guérard's Australian Landscapes, published by Hamel & Ferguson, Melbourne, 1866–68
