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Issue 164 Summer 2025
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Publication of the Anglesea Community House
An UNSEEN Happening Miriam Hercus
Image Credit: Emma Mitchell
Image Credit: Caroline Hawkins
Image Credit: Emma Mitchell
UNSEEN began with a musing by a local artist in response to the fish kill she witnessed on a walk around the Anglesea River one late Winter’s morning.
ecosystem and how we can respect their habitat. The aspiration was for an art happening grounded in care, respect, and love – not blame or politics.
Natalie Kyriacou’s book, entitled Nature’s Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction, encourages the reader to look up and around their environment, to recognise that if we have any chance of saving this world, we need to fall back in love with it. In her book, Natalie outlines how often, when an environment is under stress and appears to be failing, the initial question we humans tend to ask is what “should” we do to rectify things when, ultimately, we need to trust that nature will find a way and all we need to do is work out how best to support the environment as it continues to sustain itself under duress.
Anyone interested in participating was welcomed through word of mouth, invited to take ownership of creating a lantern and contribute in any way they chose. This was not a formal event with a set agenda, but rather an organic opportunity for like-minded individuals to connect at various times and places. The focus was on the inhabitants of the Anglesea River area, which can sometimes go UNSEEN.
The impetus for UNSEEN was a vision of a quiet walk along the river paths at sunset – a slow, reflective lantern walk featuring lanterns handmade from ephemeral, biodegradable materials and rice-flour paste. It was also conceived as a way to honour World Rivers Day, celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday of September, and as an opportunity to learn more about the inhabitants of the river
Participants were encouraged to create their lanterns by physically engaging with the materials – moving with them, weaving with them, and allowing the process to guide their forms. The results were a delightful array of lanterns capturing the spirit of local flora and fauna, ranging from turtles and fish of all shapes and sizes to enormous coral forms, sentient beings, sea creatures, and even a freshwater snail. Creatives contributed to the UNSEEN happening through en plein air drawings, photography, video, and Continued on page 4
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