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New immersive art exhibition imagines life after profound ecological change

Arts in Greater Dandenong

Key Facts:

• New immersive art exhibition 'Primary Succession' by Wona Bae and Charlie Lawler explores ecosystem adaptation and regeneration after environmental disruption
• Exhibition transforms gallery space into a speculative future world affected by climate change, featuring sculptural forms and sensory design
• Project draws on research into Melbourne and Greater Dandenong landscapes, incorporating consultation with Indigenous leaders and botanical experts
• Exhibition runs from 6 June to 15 August at Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre, open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am-3pm

 Wona Bae and Charlie Lawler: Primary Succession

A major new immersive art exhibition is coming to Greater Dandenong, inviting audiences to experience a future shaped by climate change, regeneration and life beyond human control.

Primary Succession is a large‑scale installation by internationally recognised artists Wona Bae (South Korea) and Charlie Lawler (Australia). The exhibition explores how ecosystems adapt and reorganise after environmental disruption, imagining what might emerge after ecological rupture.

Drawing on extensive research into the landscapes of Melbourne and Greater Dandenong, the work reflects on how local environments have been transformed by colonisation, urban expansion and climate change — and how life continues to adapt.

Visitors will enter a deeply atmospheric environment made up of sculptural forms, immersive scenography and sensory design. The gallery will be transformed into a speculative world shaped by altered temperatures, biodiversity loss and changing rhythms of life.

Unlike many visions of the future, Primary Succession does not present a disaster scenario. Instead, it imagines regeneration as an ongoing process — quiet, adaptive and collective.

“Primary Succession is an ambitious and deeply immersive project that examines the long‑lasting impact of colonisation on our environment and living systems,” says Dr Miriam La Rosa, Arts Curator at Greater Dandenong City Council.

“Through extensive research, and following a consultation with local Indigenous leaders from Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation and experts from the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (Cranbourne), the artists have created a work that is grounded in place while imagining new ecological futures.”

A revealing presence in the exhibition is the grey‑headed flying fox, one of the region’s most important yet often misunderstood animals. As pollinators and seed dispersers, flying foxes play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. In the exhibition, they become guides through a future shaped by nocturnal life and shared survival.

The work imagines a world where landscapes “learn” from past damage. In this future, biological systems and remnants of technology adapt together, and humans are no longer at the centre of everything. Instead, life continues according to its own rhythms.

“The end is not staged as collapse, but as a subtle reorganisation of matter and time,” say artists Wona Bae and Charlie Lawler. “New ecologies emerge — familiar yet strange — as the vitality of life resurfaces.”

By connecting local environmental histories with global climate realities, Primary Succession invites audiences to reflect on resilience, coexistence and the possibility of life continuing in unexpected ways.

Exhibition Details

Wona Bae and Charlie Lawler: Primary Succession

Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre and temporary installation ‘Space Cube’ in central Dandenong

Wednesday to Saturday, 11am–3pm

Exhibition Opening: Saturday 6 June, 6pm
Exhibition Dates: 6 June – 15 August

For more information visit greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/primarysuccession

For updates and program highlights, follow @ArtsGreaterDandy on social media.

Contact details:

Jasmin de Wolf
Team Leader Creative City Promotions, City of Greater Dandenong
📞 0491 303 892
✉️ [email protected]