Mid Stories

To speak of the regeneration, we must reflect on the destruction and how it has shaped us.

Solastalgia is a term that was coined by Australian environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht to describe the psychological distress that results from negative environmental changes, such as climate change or habitat destruction. The term combines the words ‘solace’ and ‘nostalgia’ to describe a feeling of homesickness for a place that has been lost or altered.

Those of us who are connected to these areas impacted by the Black Summer Bushfires, either through a personal or cultural connection, may experience Solastalgia as a result of the destruction.

Solastalgia in this context can also be viewed as a form of climate grief, a psychological response to the loss, disruption, and uncertainty caused by climate change.

All is not lost though. Some of the landscape has healed, some forever altered. In other parts, the midstorey takes on the role of sentinel, guarding the forest floor whilst the emerging canopy gathers itself, preparing for its role as the future shield, readying to take on the role that nurtures and protects a new landscape.

The stories we see and hear from the forest now are those of the midstorey, the Sweet Bursaria, Wattles and epicormic growth. The exhibition reveals just some of the stories currently unfolding as the landscape and community heal. It also explores imagined environments of the future.

Both artists have lived experience with bushfires. Along with her family, Vanessa sheltered in a bunker in the Maragle Valley for three hours during the Dunn’s Road Fire on New Year’s Eve 2019. Along with post graduate qualifications in natural resource management, Nat is an Ecologist and worked as a professional Forest Firefighter in the early 2000’s including the 2003 fire campaign.