Nature speaks, but are we listening? Hear from a trio of in-tune experts – photographic artist and activist Leila Jeffreys (Temple, Vivid Sydney 2022)...

What We Can Learn from Nature: Australian Museum X Vivid Ideas

Location:

1 William Street
2010 NSW
Australia

Venue:
Australian Museum
Tani, Masked Owl no. 1 by Leila Jeffreys
Tani, Masked Owl no. 1 by Leila Jeffreys

Featuring

Tim Low

Tim Low

Tim Low is an ecologist and best-selling author of seven books. His Where Song Began became the first nature book ever to win the Australian Book Industry Award for best General Non Fiction. Feral Future inspired the formation of a conservation group, the Invasive Species Council. Tim has written reports about climate change impacts on nature for the Australian and Queensland governments. He has worked as a nature guide in Australia and Borneo. As a teenager he discovered new lizard species, including one that he named and one that was named after him.

Leila Jeffreys

Leila Jeffreys

Leila Jeffreys (b.1972) is an Australian contemporary artist represented by Olsen Gallery, Sydney. Best known for visceral and mysterious images of birds that explore and subvert the traditions of portraiture, increasingly, Jeffreys’ work as an artist is inextricable from her concerns as an environmentalist. Working in the tradition of artist-activists, the artist collaborates with conservationists, ornithologists and sanctuaries around the world to find her subjects before forging an intimate relationship with the birds that she photographs. Jeffreys has held solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, New York, London and Sydney, and over the last 18 months her work has been exhibited in Los Angeles, Stockholm, Paris, Talin, Toulouse, Istanbul, and Brussels. Jeffreys has published three books including award winning Birdland.

David Gandelman

David Gandelman

David Gandelman is a spiritual teacher, author, and guide, whose mission is to awaken souls on their path of growing into being human, and living an enlightened, purpose-driven life.

He is the founder of the Meditation School app, and host of the Meditation School, Energy Matters, and Grounded Sleep podcasts. And his meditations have been streamed millions of times. He has taught at Cornell University, NBC Universal, SAP, and numerous other organizations.

David holds a B.A. in Western philosophy from Rutgers University, which combined with his studies in Eastern spiritual traditions living in the Himalayas, as well as his experience as the director of a school for intuitive development and mysticism in Hawaii, informs a teaching style that connects energetic experience, ancient wisdom traditions, and humour in order to create a safe atmosphere for people interested in learning to meditate and develop into their potential.

Event Details

Nature speaks, but are we listening? Hear from a trio of in-tune experts – photographic artist and activist Leila Jeffreys (Temple, Vivid Sydney 2022), renowned naturalist Tim Low and the Meditation School app creator and author of The 7 Energies of The Soul David Gandelman – as they explore how improving your relationship to nature can, in turn, improve your relationship with yourself, in this night of talks, art, drinks and more.

Drawing from personal experiences as well as their environmental efforts, this panel will jolt you into a more mindful space, and ask you to reconsider how we interact with the world around us. From beings big and small, there’s plenty we can learn.

Just ask Leila, whose work as a photographic and installation artist captures nature’s beauty and has deepened her understanding of the importance of interconnection and belonging for all living things. Add in Tim's decades of research and writing (including best-seller books Where Song Began, Feral Future and The New Nature), which has provided invaluable insights into the natural world and its relationship to us, and David’s practical approach to mindfulness, and this is sure to be a perspective-shifting event. Join for a reinvigorated discussion about the relationship between art, nature and purpose, and the deep-seeded importance of protecting and listening to nature.

Outside of the talk, be sure to stick around and explore the night's full breadth of adventure! Grab a drink at the pop-up bar and immerse yourself in an avian-inspired soundscape by Tom Hogan. Explore the museum on your own or take a free museum 'tour' with performer and writer Nathan Harrison, as part of the ongoing Museum through my Eyes program. And don't forget to head to the theatre to enjoy a one-night-only encore of Vivid Sydney 2022 favourite Temple by Leila and Melvin J. Montalban.

And post talk, Leila, Tim and David will stick around to chat about after all things nature, life and connection, as will Australian Museum archivist and author Vanessa Finney, who is eager to share the majesty of and stories behind one of the finest examples of bird illustrations ever, John Gould's The Birds of Australia.

Event: 5pm-9pm | Talk: 6.30pm-7.30pm

This is part of Vivid Ideas' Immersive Events series. Be transported somewhere new by Up Late nights at Australian Museum and Powerhouse, an NFT party, mindfulness workshops and truly one-of-a-kind experiences. 

Image credit: 'Tani' Masked Owl no. 1, Leila Jeffreys / Olsen Gallery

Access and Inclusion

  • Wheelchair Accessible Wheelchair Accessible - Access to the venue is suitable for wheelchairs (toilets, ramps/lifts etc.) and designated wheelchair spaces are available.