Climate Futures Artist Fellowship

What social impact will climate change have on future generations? How will these changes take shape within our cultural and artistic spaces?

The Climate Futures Artist Fellowship invites 2 artists to use any art form to imagine a future where art and climate intersect in profound and meaningful ways.

The fellowship includes:

• $15,000 funding
• desk space at the Library for 12 months
• access to collections and Library staff expertise.

The funding is based on 3 months of work in the Library, either continuous or broken up over the year.

2024 recipients

Michael Dulaney – Sentinels: Dispatches From The Human-Animal Interface In The Age Of Climate Change

Michael Dulaney is a journalist and writer whose work focuses on our links with the rest of non-human nature in the climate crisis. His science and nature writing has been published by The Monthly, Literary Hub, The Big Issue, and the BBC, among others. Michael has been shortlisted for the Scibe Non-fiction Prize for Young Writers and won the Overland Fair Australia Prize.

He will use the collection to finish researching and writing a book called Sentinels, which will be published by Scribe. Each chapter will look at different animal species, exploring how human impacts on the environment are driving more infectious diseases to jump from animals to humans.

Dr Ana Lara Heyns and Professor N'arwee't Carolyn Briggs AM – Weegabeel Warreeny Maar: Reclaiming Water Country

This project explores coastal communities' geological and cultural histories regarding rising sea levels. It examines Boonwurrung narratives through a multidisciplinary approach to the Library's collections and explores future bodies of work, including ways to share knowledge with children.

N'Arwee't Professor Carolyn Briggs AM is a descendant of the First Peoples of Melbourne, the Yalukit Weelam clan of the Boon Wurrung. She is an Elder in Research at RMIT's College of Design and Social Context. Carolyn has been involved in developing and supporting opportunities for Indigenous youth and Boon Wurrung culture for over 40 years.

Dr Ana Lara Heyns is a geo-anthropologist specialising in heritage, tourism, identity, belonging, and Indigenous methodologies. Her research is focused on waterway management, groundwater, cultural memory, and Indigenous water knowledge. She is a research fellow at Monash University Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab.