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,”
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.”
The name 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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