A velvet ant, a flower and a bird
A velvet ant, a flower and a bird is an ambitious new exhibition curated by internationally-renowned Chus Martínez, opening February 19 and running until June 6, 2026. Bringing together works from the University of Melbourne’s Classics, Biology and Art collections alongside new commissions and performances by Australian and international artists, the exhibition explores intelligence, adaptation, and collective knowledge beyond the human. Martínez frames the velvet ant, the flower, and the bird as metaphors for radical adaptation, perpetual renewal, and emergent collective intelligence, inviting visitors into a ‘living ecosystem’ of objects, media, and ideas in which historical and contemporary works coexist without hierarchy. The exhibition features over 60 artists, including David Noonan, Harold Munkara, Joan Jonas, Naomi Hobson, and Rrikin Burarrwa a, alongside immersive performances, talks and the annual Interdisciplinary Forumz. Accompanying publications authored by Martínez, Laura Tripaldi, and Neha Cheksi further reflect on the exhibition’s cross-disciplinary vision, inviting audiences to reconsider the boundaries between human and non-human knowledge.
Image credit: NAOMI HOBSON, Rare, 2025. Courtesy the artist and Vivien Anderson Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
