A thought-provoking art exhibition in Melton is drawing attention to urbanisation and its effects on animals, aiming to promote empathy for the plight of native and non-native species.
Created by local artist Mollie-Rose Chislett, ‘Metropolitan Menagerie’ at the Melton Civic Centre is a series of watercolour and ink works that focus on the theme of how urbanisation affects animals – including in the Melton municipality.
“There’s an increase in … housing developments, and that kind of impacts their habitats,” Chislett said.
“What I’ve noticed recently is this year we’ve had a lot of kangaroos move closer in to town … we’ve had kangaroos in my front yard, which we’ve never had before,” she said.
Chislett said she has also noticed animals begin to eat discarded food scraps and use human-created materials – such as witnessing magpies using twine to build their nests – as human urban and animal habitats combine.
“My key messaging is to raise awareness of the urban animals in our locality as a way to … make people more empathetic [about] the sort of plight we’re seeing with urban animals in terms of adapting to this new urban habitat,” Chislett said.
“I’m really happy with the response that I’ve gotten to the work because people have said that it’s very impactful as well as looking quite nice … I’m glad that it’s working,” she said.
The title of the exhibition refers to the fact that there are plenty of animals to observe in our own backyards, acting as a form of urban menagerie.
The exhibition will run until October 5 at the Melton Civic Centre.
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