WILD STORIES
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
1/12/12 – 31/1/13
“Imagine a world where we are all connected with nature – all species cohabitating in harmony, giving space to each other and allowing for the survival and thriving of each and one another.”
– Diego Bonetto
Artist, naturalist and forager, Diego Bonetto presents Wild Stories, an exhibition and public program about community and cultural connections with the Australian environment. Wild Stories is the result of an 18 month artist in residence program at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. This residency built on Bonetto’s longstanding commitment towards challenging and undermining our preconceived understanding of rightfully belonging species. Bonetto subverts our reading of everyday nature using age-old stories; stories from all over the world related to the species living amongst us, particularly weeds.
Wild Stories aims to provide an entry point into environmental belonging and cultural identity. As exotic as weeds may seem, Bonetto successfully harvests the knowledge, experience and traditions that people of South West Sydney inherently possess or underuse, often embedded in the traditional practices of pickled foods, medicinal herb remedies, crafts, wine, folklore and mythology. Moreover, Bonetto engages with disciplines as far apart as biology, ethno-botany, anthropology, sociology and theology in order to substantiate the need for a new understanding of environmental care, respect and stewardship.
Many people were involved in the production of Wild Stories. Diego Bonetto and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre would like to thank all of those who have made a contribution.
