Wildly Accurate: The ecology of Chico da Silva’s Amazon
Our currently exhibiting artist Chico da Silva painted fantastical creatures inspired by his lived experience in the Amazon rainforest. His vibrant paintings, showing subjects ranging from jungle predators to sea monsters, capture the essence of ecological and evolutionary processes from an Indigenous viewpoint. Chico’s creatures are frequently locked in life and death struggles, reflecting the struggle for existence of all living animals today. They inhabit a ‘landscape of fear’, a world shaped entirely around the threat of being eaten, where they compete, they court and they consume. In this special walkthrough, Kate Durrant, a behavioural ecologist who has worked alongside Indigenous communities around the world, will explore how Chico’s imaginary beasts encode genuine ecological logic.
Dr Kate Durrant is an Associate Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Nottingham. Her research explores how and why animals behave the way they do, with a particular focus on sexual selection: Darwin’s idea regarding what makes individuals successful in finding mates. Kate studies a wide range of species, from birds to insects, combining fieldwork and experiments to uncover the hidden drivers of behaviour. She is passionate about sharing science with new audiences and finding creative ways to connect ideas from biology with the wider world.
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Access
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This event will be held in Gallery 1. Please meet at Reception at the start time.
If you have any questions around access or have specific access requirements we can accommodate, please get in touch with us by emailing info@nottinghamcontemporary.org or phoning 0115 948 9750.