Biotic Commune is a body of work imagining a futuristic Symbiocene inspired by research undertaken at the Botanic Gardens of South Australia as part of the Guildhouse Collections Project. As we shuffle slowly towards changing our ways for the sake of the natural world, I offer Biotic Commune as my optimistic vision of a potential future. Where citrus skin balaclavas worn by eco-anarchists sit alongside, an embroidered blanket depicting plant/human relationships both good and bad and a simple item like a waterproof seed mattress - a reminder that before humans played in the science lab to create immortal plastics we could find what we needed growing around us. I spent time with the exhibits within the Museum of Economic Botany, the living collections, the Botanic Gardens library and observation and daily action enacted on the little patch of Peramangk Country on which I am lucky to live and work.

Biotic Commune absorbs and interprets this year of learning and observation of things both good and bad. From the fascinating stories of entwined plant/human evolutions, to the ever-evolving role of Botanic Gardens as places for agricultural experimentation, urban oases to be enjoyed by all, preservation of species and regeneration projects. It cannot be ignored or left out of this research project the weight that can be felt by the current sponsor partnerships, between the M.E.B and Santos which undermines and contradicts what is at the core of the Botanic Gardens and perhaps this exhibition? The other element that falls into the category of ‘heavy feelings’ is the collection of busts depicting white, male scientists that sit high on the cabinetry overlooking the collection, immortalised to be celebrated, but more aptly symbols of colonisation of not only land but ideas.

These contrasting elements and the struggle to be a ‘good human’ in a world driven by consumption and power are woven into the show. The Biotic Commune does not forget the heavy hands past humans placed on nature. Remembering our capacity for destruction is essential to forging a future in collaboration, species equality and repair. So let’s not plan to go to the moon or mars but rather reacquaint ourselves with the world we already live in. There is so much exploring to be done, that can start with a simple bowl of fruit.

photo credit: Emmaline Zanelli