Mountain Flora Plant Science Rescue
Donna Davis, Queensland State Archives, Australian Tropical Herbarium
This work explores climate change and the conservation efforts of a team of botanists attempting to save threatened plant species in Australia’s ‘Wet Tropics World Heritage Area’. The work references both historical and current data drawn together as part of a large collaborative project between artist Donna Davis, the Australian Tropical Herbarium, and the Queensland State Archives.
The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area boasts cloud rainforests on several mountain peaks that are home to many species of plants found nowhere else on Earth, however many are currently under threat from the climate crisis. The Mountain Flora Plant Science Rescue team, whose footsteps are followed by this digital piece, are working to ensure the survival of many of these threatened species.
Drawing on the rich visual history contained in the Queensland State Archives and the Australian Tropical Herbarium, this work seeks to invite the viewer to explore the unique Wet Tropics World Heritage Area following the journey of past and current explorers; individuals who have witnessed, documented, researched and now seek to save our natural environments.
About the Artists
Donna Davis is a multi-disciplinary artist intrigued with the idea of connection; her work explores intersections between art and science with a particular focus on natural and social ecosystems. Often collaborating with ecologists, botanists and mycologists, Donna explores new ways to creatively interpret ecological data; working across sculpture, assemblage, installation and digital media to create works that consider imagined futures and provide sites of environmental observation. By providing new ways of ‘seeing’, Donna aims to challenge ecological discourse and promote environmental conservation.
Queensland State Archives (QSA), Australia, is the custodian of the largest and most significant documentary heritage collection in the state of Queensland. QSA aims to inspire people with new ways of accessing, using and experiencing its archival collection. Donna Davis took up a residency with QSA as part of the Creative-Residence Program, in which QSA offers support artists to produce a body of work inspired by the archives. QSA collaborated with Donna to turn her work with climate-affected plants into an interactive narrative that draws on her research and Queensland’s archival records.
The Australian Tropical Herbarium (ATH) at James Cook University, Australia, is a research institution focused on the plant biodiversity of the Australasian tropics. The Herbarium's research program aims to address grand challenges in the tropics and leverages its strategic location at the nexus of relatively intact examples of several great tropical terrestrial biomes, and close to the interface of two continents.