A velvet ant, a flower and a bird evokes a garden of knowledge anchored by three familiar figures from nature — a velvet ant, a flower and a bird. These figures represent a parliament of beings, each carrying symbolic and metaphorical weight that encourage us to reimagine what intelligence means.
Each museum floor is presided over by one of these natural entities, creating a kind of garden where there is no pre-established order, but rather an ecosystem in which the analogue and the digital interrelate to give rise to a fantastic mental realm.
Drawing from the University of Melbourne’s Classics, Biology, and Art collections, alongside new commissions and performances; historic and contemporary art co-mingle to envision intelligence as living, continually evolving, interconnected and interdependent.
Guest curated by Professor Dr Chus Martínez, Head of the Institute of Art Gender Nature at the FHNW Academy of Arts and Design, Basel, Switzerland.
Participating artists include: Adrian Mauriks, Agnieszka Polska, Alan Craiger-Smith, Alexa Karolinski & Ingo Niermann, Alexandra Copeland, Ann Lislegaard, Anouk Tschanz, Anthony Romagnano, Archie Barry, Barbara A Swarbrick, Benjamin Armstrong, Brent Harris, Carol Murphy, Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran, David Noonan, Derek Tumala, Din Matamoro, Eduardo Navarro, Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison, Harold Munkara, Heather B Swann, Helen Ganalmirriwuy Garrawurra, Helen Maudsley, Ian Wayne Abdullah, Inge King AM, Ingela Ihrman, Jane Jin Kaisen, Joan Jonas, John Pule, Josie Papialuk, Judith Pungkarta Inkamala, Julia Mensch, Kate Daw, Lauren Burrow, Liss Fenwick, Lorraine Jenyns, Malcolm Howie, Margaret Rarru Garrawurra, Marian Tubbs, Mel O’Callaghan, Mia Boe, Miles Howard-Wilks, Nabilah Nordin, Naomi Hobson, Neha Choksi, Noemi Pfister, Noriko Nakamura, Percy Grainger, Pippin Louise Drysdale, Rivane Neuenschwander & Cao Guimarães, Rosslynd Piggott, Rrikin Burarrwaŋa, Salvador Dalí, Sattar Stas Shärifulla, Taloi Havini, Tamara Henderson, Teelah George, Tessa Laird, and Tony Warburton.
20–21 February 2026
The giant flower festival is a series of free public events celebrating the opening of A velvet ant, a flower and a bird.
The program will unfold across two days through floor talks, conversations and live performances that offer expanded curatorial perspectives and invite closer engagement with the immersive new exhibition A velvet ant, a flower and a bird.
Image: Naomi Hobson, Rare 2025. Courtesy the artist and Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne.
Potter Museum of Art
University of Melbourne
Corner Swanston Street and Masson Road
Parkville, Victoria 3010
T: 03 8344 5148
E: potter-info@unimelb.edu.au
W: potter-museum.unimelb.edu.au
Opening Hours
The Potter is currently closed - Reopening May 2025
The Public Galleries Association of Victoria (PGAV) acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the lands where our office is located, and all Traditional Owners of country throughout Victoria and Australia. We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples enduring traditions and continuing creative cultures. We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
We are an LGBTQIA+ friendly organisation that celebrates diversity. We are committed to providing safe, culturally appropriate, and inclusive services for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, faith, disability, sexuality, or gender identity.
