There is no major,
dedicated institution
anywhere in Australia that
celebrates the relationship
between art, science and
nature, and its role in
awakening us to the world
in which we live. As our
awareness of the natural
world develops and the
importance of wildlife
art is internationally
recognised, natural history
artworks are being seen
as an important part of
our cultural record.
|
WAMA will give a home
to these works so they
can be publicly displayed
and appreciated on a
permanent basis.
The WAMA site is in
the Northern Grampians
Shire bordering the
Grampians National
Park. On the slopes
of the sandstone ranges,
in the gullies, valleys
and surrounds, there
are several distinctive
environments each
harbouring rare, natural |
treasures. Cave art,
artefacts and sites
sacred to our earliest
known inhabitants can
also be found. When fully
realised, WAMA will be
an arts and environment
precinct like no other in
Australia. It will become
a must-see attraction to
complement the ecotourism
experience of the
Grampians environment. |
Australia has played a pivotal role in the discovery, exploration and attempted explanation of the environment that has nurtured the human race for millions of years.
In Europe in the early 18th century, the burgeoning printing industry found the public had an insatiable appetite for stories of exploration and adventure but, in a largely illiterate world, it was pictures rather than words that excited the majority. It was in this era that the dilettante ‘naturalist’ and ‘natural history artist’ emerged. Scientific, geological and botanical societies, often with ‘Royal Patronage’ sprang up across Europe and exploratory expeditions rarely sailed without a scientific contingent and their artists.
|
The ‘Endeavour’, under the command of Captain James Cook with botanist Joseph Banks and artist Alexander Buchan on board, landed on Australian shores at Botany Bay on the 29th April 1770. What they discovered would ultimately challenge humanity’s perception of its very existence. This was a land full of unrecognisable trees, unknown flowers and animals that challenged belief. In 1836, the famous exploratory survey vessel, the ‘HMS Beagle’ landed in Australia with ‘gentleman naturalist’ Charles Darwin and artist Conrad Martens aboard. Darwin’s studies of the unique life on the isolated Galapagos Islands had already planted the seeds of a scandalous idea of natural selection, and what he found in Australia only served as confirmation. |
Then in 1838, drawn by the reports of the fantastic birds and animals being discovered, John and Elizabeth Gould travelled to Australia.Between 1840 and 1848, Gould published his ‘Birds of Australia’ and in 1859, to an outraged public, Charles Darwin published ‘The Origin of Species’. Gould began publishing his ‘Mammals of Australia’ in 1863.
The curiosity of a handful of scientists and the discovery of a unique continent opened the eyes of scholars but it was the printing press and the work of artists that brought these discoveries into the lives of the vast majority of the world’s population. Millennia-old beliefs were upended and challenged and the thirst for further knowledge prevailed and still continues. |
 ficifolia_.jpg "'EUCALYPTUS (CORYMBIA) FICIFOLIA' (DETAIL) BY PHILIPPA NIKULINSKY ©")
