This On-Site exhibition by Pratyay Raha explores mangrove ecologies through acts of listening and the creation of posthuman soundscapes.
Mangroves are complex, dynamic habitats shaped by interwoven relationships between species, land, and water. Yet, their acoustic environments, influenced by tides, wind, animal movement, and complex rhythms, remain largely unexplored. Future Sonic Ecologies: Re-making mangrove worlds through posthuman soundscape(s) invites audiences to experience immersive sound installations, field recordings and visual materials that highlight these multispecies voices and environmental signals.
Underpinned by Pratyay Raha’s PhD research at RMIT University’s School of Art, this exhibition highlights listening as an active, critical method for engagement, urging audiences to attune to non-human worlds and question human-centric perspectives. It considers sound both as scientific data and as a medium for speculative art, encouraging discussions on conservation, environmental changeand regenerative futures. The materials featured in the exhibition were recorded across various mangrove ecologies in India’s Sundarbans, as well as in Mornington Peninsula, Victoria and North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, in Australia.
Through sensory engagement and collective reflection, Future Sonic Ecologies aims to deepen our understanding of mangrove environments and inspire responsive action for their protection, reminding us that the future of these worlds depends on listening, collaboration, and care across species boundaries.
Future Sonic Ecologies: Re-making mangrove worlds through posthuman soundscape(s) is a part of the On-Site exhibition suite, a project showcasing the creative research of RMIT postgraduate candidates.
'Creative Antarctica' is a multifaceted exhibition featuring Australian artists and writers who have been influenced by their observations and experiences of the Far South.
'Surging through exits when the bell goes' is a design-led research project that examines how the aesthetics of high school environments and digital platforms shape the hidden curriculum of contemporary education. It traces how physical architectures of control have evolved into the visual and behavioural architectures of digital systems, focusing on behaviour monitoring systems.
Formed through slow, meditative processes of hand-stitching, wrapping and dyeing, 'Inheritance' weaves together Chowdhury’s lived experiences as a first-generation Bangladeshi-Australian artist.
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.
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