Unearths the mysterious world beneath our feet
WAMA’s newest exhibition, Entanglements with Fungi: Life, Death and Renewal, is opening at the National Centre for Environmental Art. This exhibition brings together a group of multidisciplinary artists who explore the Kingdom Fungi, a mysterious underworld that acts as the bridge between interspecies life.
Through a compelling mix of reflections on art, science, history, and politics, Entanglements with Fungi: Life, Death and Renewal focuses on the cycles of life, death, and renewal that exist within this hidden kingdom.
The multi-sensory exhibition features a mix of traditional and experimental projects. Highlights include works created from local earth and materials created through the fungus recycling process, paintings based on data that tracks how mushrooms grow, and an artists’ book that stretches eight metres across the gallery.
The gallery also features digital projections of the forest floor, sound installations made from recordings of tree roots and soil, and live experiments where sensors track the movement of growing fungi.
“The artists invite you to imagine what it might feel like to see, or hear, or smell, through the nurturing exchanges between species which are often remote from the immediacy of our human senses. They ask you to imagine what it might feel like to be something other than human,” says exhibition curator Dr Felicity Spear.
Neither plant nor animal, fungi underpin all ecosystems, living in water, on trees, in the air, and even on our bodies. Their networks span kilometres and they are linked to every function on the planet, from food security to pharmaceutical medicines. Despite this, they remain largely misunderstood and their future is threatened by the impact of human influences.
“WAMA at Gariwerd is building a bridge between nature and culture, prompting us to think about human culture not as separate from, but intertwined with Earth’s hidden networks and ecological systems, mutually shaping each other,” says Spear.
Exhibiting artists include UK environmental artist Chris Drury, sound artist Vicki Hallet, environmental photographer Alison Pouliot and handmade book and digital collage artists Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison.
Other artists include Sam Leach, Chris Henschke, Debbie Symons, and the curator herself, Felicity Spear.
Situated at the foothills of Gariwerd/Grampians National Park, WAMA offers a distinctive new cultural experience that unites contemporary art and environmental consciousness across a 16-hectare precinct and includes the Gariwerd Endemic Botanic Garden and Jallukar Native Grasslands alongside the National Centre for Environmental Art – Australia’s only institution dedicated exclusively to the intersection of art and the environment.
ENTANGLEMENTS WITH FUNGI EXHIBITION
Dates: 21 March 2026 – 1 June 2026
TIckets: $5 (under 16 free)
Location: National Centre for Environmental Art, WAMA
4000 Ararat-Halls Gap Road, Halls Gap VIC 3381
Website:wama.au
Hours: Saturday – Sunday (and public holidays), 10am – 4pm
ABOUT WAMA
Located in Budja Budja/Halls Gap at the foothills of Gariwerd/Grampians National Park, WAMA unites art, nature and environmental awareness across its 16-hectare precinct. Home to Australia’s National Centre for Environmental Art, the Gariwerd/Grampians Endemic Botanic Gardens, Jallukar Native Grasslands and wetlands, WAMA opened to the public in July 2025. WAMA exists to celebrate and deepen our connection with nature through exhibitions, gardens, and community programs. Surrounded by native landscapes, WAMA invites visitors to experience the unique environment of Gariwerd through creativity, curiosity and care.
WAMA acknowledges the Djab Wurrung and Jardwadjali people as Traditional Custodians of the land.