Over the past 35 years ANAT has cultivated opportunities for artists to create experimental work in and with science and technology.

Through residencies including ANAT Synapse now celebrating its 20th year, festivals, workshops and other professional activities supported by robust national and international networks ANAT plays a unique and critical role in Australia’s artistic and cultural ecosystem and contributes significantly to the nation’s reputation for creativity, diversity and innovation.

We acknowledge that humanity and our planet Earth is amid a transformative era, facing some of the greatest ecological, social, cultural, economical and technical challenges in human history. We are the confluence of three interconnected and interrelated ecosystems; arts, science and technology, that are critical in shaping this right of passage and unique opportunities to shape the futures.

ANAT has a long tradition of cultivating artistic excellence by bringing together artists with science and technology to create experimental artwork, but making new ideas visible is not enough.

Our vision is for artists to contribute to cultivating the conditions for ecological, cultural, social and economic flourishing for all living beings, through the making and sharing of some of Australia’s most important stories. Building on our existing programs, capability, and our core value of reciprocity, over the next five years ANAT will identify and develop our role in cultural diplomacy internationally, importantly across the Indo Pacific and Southeast Asian regions.

We recognise that we need to amplify the unheard and vulnerable (human and beyond human), transcend traditional practices to communicate stories effectively and cultivate relationships that enable us to endure.

River Listening is an interdisciplinary project established in 2014 that presents an innovative approach to freshwater conservation. This paper reflects on a decade of research with particular focus on the creative outcomes that have leveraged real-time audio and locative media for public engagement and ecological awareness. This interdisciplinary project works at the intersection of art and science and has deployed hydrophones in global river system making the artistic and scientific possibilities of listening to rivers accessible to global audiences through real-time audio streaming and interactive sound walks. River Listening embodies the concept of Everywhen by interweaving the past, present, and future narratives of freshwater ecosystems through sound. This approach not only amplifies the project's scientific contributions but also extends its reach and impact on public engagement. The project stands as a testament to the transformative potential of art, science, and technology in facilitating an empathetic connection and care for rivers at a time when it is increasingly important to listen.

“Entanglements” is an interactive apparatus that explores the fundamental phenomenon of quantum entanglement and how it can frame and activate relationships with the universe. Through a novel interface that combines sight, sound and touch, actual quantum entanglement phenomena are created and expressed through unique sonic signatures. The term “en- tanglement” is widely used, but what actually is it? In this paper, we describe the phenomenon and the artwork, and how it challenges fundamental assumptions about space, time and our relationships with the subatomic and cosmic realms.

Join host, ANAT CEO Melissa DeLaney as she leads this session with presenters who are all Australian artists working at the intersections of art, science and technology.

Each of the artists are ANAT Alumni and part of its community of practice. Their vital and important work spotlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and reciprocity, shared ethos of practices and contribution to the field of research, creative practice and inquiry into their roles as humans engaging with diverse methodologies and fields of inquiry.