Program subject to change.

River Country installation, 11am–3pm

Walk beneath river red gums, float with the pelicans or look for platypus in the River Country installation. Transforming the Gandel Atrium, this special creative commission by artist and sculptor SA Adair in collaboration with Kirsten Wehner, James O Fairfax Senior Fellow in Culture and Environment, evokes the forms, flows and species of the Murray–Darling rivers and wetlands. Plants and animals transformed by students and artists from river communities remind us of the endless interweaving of people, culture and the natural world. The installation is an echo of an ecological community brimming with life, inviting us to remember, appreciate and dream of protecting and regenerating such places.

Everyone has a river story. Drop in and create your own river species artwork to add to the ecosystem. Let’s grow the wetlands!

Drop-in activities, 11am–3pm

Weaving wetlands stories
Get hands on with a weaving workshop facilitated by the Fibre Basket Makers of the ACT.  Weave your own memory basket or just stop by for a chat as they share weaving skills and knowledge, and demonstrate how to harvest and prepare materials sourced from the wetlands in and around Canberra.

Microscopic life and waterbugs
Just beneath the surface of the Molonglo River, a world of mini-beasts and microscopic critters carry on their busy lives. They are fascinating, beautiful and essential to the wellbeing of our waterways. Join Jed Pearson from Waterwatch ACT for an exploration of this aquatic universe. Learn how to identify different species and then make your own bug.

Platypus stories
What is it like to be a platypus? What does their world look like? In this workshop with PhotoAccess, you’ll use paper, sun and water to create a cyanotype print that captures your vision of the platypus’s world. Your image will be digitised and become part of an animation celebrating this amazing creature.

Gwydir through time
Contribute to a collaborative artwork exploring Gwydir wetlands, one of the most significant inland wetland systems in New South Wales, through time. Over the course of the day, the artwork will pass through 65,000 years of history.

Timed workshops

Gwydir cultural objects, 1.30–3pm
Join Gomeroi/Kamilaroi traditional custodian Jason Wilson for a workshop featuring objects and stories from the Gwydir region of New South Wales. Learn about Gomeroi/Kamilaroi people’s continuing culture and connection to Country.

Imagining watery lives and places, 2–3.30pm
This workshop with artist, designer and researcher Zoë Sadokierski uses collage and sketching to explore the many lives, movements and relationships that make up the watery places that nourish us, from Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra to the wider Murray–Darling Basin.