Birds of Australia STORYBOX
YEAR
SERVICES
Research & Narrative Design
Community Engagement
Creative Direction
Technical Installation & Touring
Digital Concept Design
2022-2025
CLIENT
The Australian Museum
DESCRIPTION
A touring exhibition created with the Australian Museum. Inspired by the work of John and Elizabeth Gould, The Birds of Australia STORYBOX showcases a unique digital experience that brings to life this incredible collection of 19th century illustrations and tours them around NSW using STORYBOX.
PROJECT WEBSITE
The Birds of Australia STORYBOX brings John and Elizabeth Gould's iconic 19th century illustrations into new community spaces using innovative technology and multi-sensory forms of storytelling.
Featuring a 12-min audio-visual production by Studio ESEM (formerly Esem Projects), the project linked community and creative curation methods of interpretation, and brought First Nations knowledge and insights into dialogue with the Goulds’ iconic illustrations of Australia’s unique bird life.
Presented as a touring activation project across NSW over 2023-2025, Birds of Australia STORYBOX brings the collection into novel spaces and communities, inviting audiences to contemplate the significance of Australia’s colourful bird history, and why we need to conserve them for future generations.
Presented by The Australian Museum, the project was funded by CREATE NSW under the Blockbuster Touring initiative. More information about project can be found on the Australian Museum's touring exhibition website.
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Gould's Black Swan illustration
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![Dr. Sarah Barns and Janine Leanne]()
Dr. Sarah Barns records Dr. Janine Leanne recite her poem Black Duck
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Gould's illustration of a Swift Parrot animated by Jules Burgess
Creating Birds of Australia STORYBOX was a chance to revisit this iconic collection of nineteenth century illustrations and bring them into dialogue with contemporary communities. This was both a digital and a curatorial program, requiring deep research into collections and stories about the Goulds, their journey to NSW in the early years of the British colony, and the many insights they gathered about Australia’s unique bird life.
Touring the Birds of Australia program was also an opportunity to reflect on the role of Australia’s unique birdlife in Australian communities today. Following the Covic-19 lockdowns, many Australians had learned to pay a little more attention to the many ways that Australia’s birds shape experiences of different places through their iconic bird song.
The work of Tim Low, whose book Where Song Began was a major inspiration for our creative production, also highlighted the important evolutionary role played by Australia’s birds and their unique songs. We collaborated with musician Freya Berkhout to create a unique musical soundscape inspired by many of the birds featured in the program.
Enlivening John & Elizabeth Gould’s illustrations
STORYBOX on Tour
Birds of Australia STORYBOX tours regional NSW from April 2023 to March 2025. For the full touring schedule see The Australian Museum website.
Explore & Connect
Learn about key stories and insights in the program with this short documentation video.
A Novel Interaction
Studio ESEM created a unique mobile interactive experience that enables anyone with a mobile device to interact with the STORYBOX. Created with Rene Christian (Socketumi) for STORYBOX. Users can ‘play’ a birdsound and explore unique interactives.
Creating Wonder
The narrative design emphasised feelings of wonder and creative connections as deeply empathic ways to connect with birds ‘as kin’.
Black Swan
For aeons, you sailed beyond their dreams black swan – rara avis – mythical bird skirting shores unimagined – sailing south of impossible und’er aurora Australis on terra incognita.”
EXERPT FROM BLACK SWAN BY JEANINE LEANE PUBLISHED BY RED ROOM POETRYREAD FULL POEM HERE