On Friday 24 March artists, scientists, writers and scholars met to explore the idea of ‘Localising the Anthropocene.’ How do we take a broad, abstract term and make it grounded? What does it feel like to live in times of rapid environmental change? What does the Anthropocene mean for different people and in different places? In the morning we discussed the aims of the ARC funded project led by researchers and curators from the National Museum of Australia, the Sydney Environment Institute (University of Sydney), and the Australian National University (including two members of the Centre for Environmental History: Libby Robin and Cameron  Muir). We looked at a draft version of an online gallery that is part of the project. It will feature stories that use objects as a prompt to talk about people’s relationships with their local environment and how they feel about the future. Our book project is another means of inviting collaborations, exploring the ideas that shape the project, and for reflecting on what we have discovered. The rest of the day was dedicated to sharing Anthropocene object stories among our group of thirty or so participants. It was run the in the spirit of a poetry slam with each presenter pitching their object in a few minutes. The eclectic collection of objects included a coal briquette, coral cores, stygofauna, crayweed artworks, an albatross egg, a brine shrimp layer, Brent oil field rigs, a chainsaw and thongs.  

Participants

  Jilda Andrews, National Museum of Australia Caitilin de Berigny, University of Sydney Paul Donnelly, University of Sydney Ann Elias, Sydney College of the Arts David Farrier, University of Edinburgh Renata Ferrari Legorreta, University of Sydney Will Figueira, University of Sydney Luke Fischer, University of Sydney Laura Fisher, Sydney College of the Arts Prudence Gibson, University of NSW Jennifer Mae Hamilton, University of Sydney Leah Lui-Chivizhe, University of NSW George Main, National Museum of Australia Iain McCalman, University of Sydney Marie McKenzie, University of Sydney Kelly Mitchell, Extrablack Cat Moir, University of Sydney Cameron Muir, University of Sydney Astrid Neimanis, University of Sydney Jenny Newell, Australian Museum Emily O’Gorman, Macquarie University Jude Philp, University of Sydney Libby Robin, Australian National University Martha Sear, National Museum of Australia Jennifer Turpin and Michaelie Crawford, Turpin + Crawford Studio Thom van Dooren, University of NSW Adriana Verges, University of NSW Jody Webster, University of Sydney Josh Wodak, University of NSW Charlotte Wood, University of Sydney