Ten Eighty by Matt Dunne + Tall Poppy Press

Since the arrival of white people, the Dingo has been one of the most persecuted animals in Australia - the target of shooting, trapping, poisoning, myth-making and scorn.

In Ten Eighty, Matt Dunne acts as a witness to the ongoing colonial war against the Dingo - an animal that is simultaneously protected and legally destroyed en masse in Australia. The exhibition challenges audiences to ask why we still treat some native wildlife as "pests" to be destroyed rather than vital parts of our ecosystem. The exhibition focuses on the animal, the tools of its destruction and what thrives because of the killing: feral animals, unsustainable farming and a sense of emptiness.

To this day, governments in Australia seek to eradicate the animal completely, whether by sanctioning shooting, enabling trapping or paying for widespread poisoning campaigns using 1080 - a poison so indiscriminate, toxic and painful it is banned in nearly every country that is not Australia. Multiple governments continue to pay for the construction of fencing to keep Dingoes away from sheep, leading to Australia having the longest fence in the world - over 5,500km - a fence so vast it is longer than the distance from Perth to Sydney. An ecological barrier so pervasive differences in landscape caused by the fence can be seen from satellite.

At the core of this exhibition is the animal - a canine trying to do what it's always done: explore and find a meal.

Friday May 1st

6-8pm: Opening + Book Launch

Saturday May 2nd

Gallery open 11-5pm

Artist talk at 2.30pm

Sunday May 3rd

Gallery open 11-5pm

12pm Panel on Dingoes with Professor Euan Ritchie and Leesh Martion - the panel will focus on the Big desert Dingo Research project, a group who have been observing and learning about the last Dingo population in the West of Victoria, a small population that was recently protected under Victorian law, to much celebration and criticism.

1.30pm Meet a Dingo with Australian Dingo Foundation - a short presentation on the physicality of the Dingo followed by time for folks to see the Dingo up close and take a selfie with it - visitors are encourage to donate a few dollars to ADF

Thursday May 7th

Gallery open 11-3pm

Friday May 8th

Gallery open 11-3pm

Saturday May 9th

Gallery open 11-5pm

35-53 Emma St, Collingwood

Contact the host of Ten Eighty

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