Day of the Species exhibition

What does it feel like to encounter all 2,015 of Australia’s threatened fauna and flora species in a single room? As described by The Wilderness Society’s National Campaigns Director, Amelia Young, at the opening night of the ‘Day of the Species’ exhibition, it’s “profound, astonishing, sobering and inspiring.”

Exhibition photos by Claire Weekley

Our ability to see and name all of these species at the Black Spark Arts and Cultural Centre in Northcote is due to the creator and curator of ‘The Day of the Species’ exhibition, Carmel Killin. In 2019, in frustration and despair at the long list of threatened Australian species and the lack of political will to protect Australia’s extraordinary biodiversity, she created a tiny artwork of a spotted-tail quoll. This tiny drawing was the beginning of a community art project to depict the entire threatened species list. With COVID lockdowns, in 2020, the project took off. 283 people have contributed 3 x 7 cm depictions of flora and fauna on pieces of recycled cardboard. The existence of the exhibition is a testament to Carmel’s vision and persistence and the wider community’s love and care for the species with which we share this continent.

The contributions are as diverse as the species they represent, with artwork from children, accomplished artists and everyone in between. Seeing the artworks in person, in a single room, is indeed profound and sobering in its representation of the damage done to country, since colonisation, and the losses we are likely to witness in coming years and decades, if we don’t act on the multitude of threats to the environment.

The skill and the care that each artist has brought to this work is astonishing, as is the ability of the exhibition to bring to life the otherwise dull list of threatened species on a government website. It is easy to lose yourself in this single room, seeing the exhibition as a whole, then poring over the details, exclaiming at the tiny artworks, the extraordinary animals and the common English names we have given them. The exhibition can also inspire people to ask ‘what can we do?’ to save these species from extinction.

This is the fifth iteration of the exhibition and the first held in the Merri Creek catchment. There are several species, with a connection to the catchment, that feature, including matted flax-lily (Dianella amoena), golden sun moth (Synemon plana), growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), striped legless lizard (Delma impar), plains wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus) and grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla). This highlights the importance of acting locally to protect and enhance habitat, particularly the grasslands that were once abundant in Melbourne’s north and west, of which less than 1% remain.

Some Merri Creek species: matted flax-lily, growling grass frog and golden sun moth

At the exhibition, there is the opportunity to contribute drawings of Victoria’s threatened species (recycled cardboard and pencils supplied). These will be collected and sent to Federal Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, as a plea for greater protection of and investment in our threatened species and the places they call home.

‘Day of the Species’ is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am-6 pm, at the Black Spark Art and Cultural Centre, 126a Gladstone Ave, Northcote through to September 7th, National Threatened Species Day. The event is in partnership with The Wilderness Society, Carmel is crowd funding support to continue exhibiting the project.