Danielle Carey and Amelie Ecology (AKA Dr Amelie Vanderstock) welcomed guests to the
MAGNIFY event at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre.
Story and photos by Gabiann Marin
Ever wondered what the world looks like to a tiny insect? It’s something we don’t often ask ourselves, but that very question was the basis of a recent interactive community performance MAGNIFY, hosted by Wildground Creative Adventures and featuring environmental songstress Amelie Ecology. The event was designed to help locals, young and old, think about the wonderful contributions insects make to our lives and show how we can support them, and their vital role in our environment.
Key Points:
- Insects are the key driving force in our ecosystem. Rethinking and reframing our attitudes towards them and educating children and adults about their importance can have a huge positive impact on planetary health.
- The recent MAGNIFY event at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre focused on the importance of insects.
- Local entertainer, singer and environmental scientist Amelie Ecology launched her debut album and her scientist activity kit and workbook at the event.
On the 8th June the courtyard of the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre was transformed into a magical world of giant mushrooms and metre high flowers buzzing with activity. Literally buzzing, as eager young people and the occasional adult dressed up as butterflies, bees, spiders and beetles, enjoying the interactive activities that characterised the MAGNIFY event.
Organised by Danielle Carey of Wild Ground Creative Adventures and Amelie Ecology (AKA Dr Amelie Vanderstock), the event was a day of fun-filled activities, performances and interactive play designed to encourage young people and their parents to rethink their ideas around insects.
Amelia loved being a butterfly.
“I think immersive experiences like MAGNIFY are groundbreaking for the community. We’re merging outdoor adventure, ecological storytelling, and creative art. But we’re doing it in ways that the audience co-creates alongside us at each step of the process,” Danielle enthuses.
“So we’re exploring connective practice and ecological relationships. It’s deeper learning. And an approach that hopefully inspires the community with hope, joy and wonder.”
Bushcraft and creative interactive events were a key focus at MAGNIFY.
As well as dress-up and creative craft activities, the day featured jaw dropping circus acts by the multi-talented performers of Stuart Christie’s Bah-Hah Circus. The performances comprised of several beautifully choreographed vignettes – each featuring a different tiny creature – from native bees to ladybirds.
As young girls dangled from trapeze or floated in clouds of silken fabric above the heads of the awestruck crowds, the beauty and elegance of the insect world was perfectly demonstrated.
The acrobatic sisters Ella and Anna transformed into bees as part of Stuart Christie’s Bah-Hah Circus performance.
The centrepiece of the day was the launch of Amelie Ecology’s album and educational science kit ‘Let’s Bee Scientists’ which aim to inspire children of all ages to fall in love with environmental science through a mixture of playful songs and educational activities.
Amelie and Gabi, introduced by Danielle Carey, launched their debut Album ‘Let’s Bee Scientists’ at the MAGNIFY event.
The album and educational pack feature songs and activities explaining why we should care about soil micro-organisms, native bee diversity and the importance of pollinators in providing the food we eat. In Amelie’s own words the whole project is all about providing an “ecosystem of learning!”
While Amelie’s songs and activities are light-hearted and fun, the information contained is surprisingly thorough, thanks to Amelie’s PhD studies in environmental science and ecology at the University of Sydney. Her doctorate focused on native bees in urban environments. Although she could have followed a more academic path, Amelie believes that the key to effective environmental preservation and education is through hands-on and creative engagement with children and adults through song, play and enjoyment.
Amelie Ecology as a Blue Banded Bee gets a closer look at the audience.
Amelie Ecology’s debut album launch and Danielle’s 10 year business anniversary were the catalyst for creating the event, but both women wanted it to be more than just about their own work, and something that the community could enjoy and learn from.
“All of my immersive work has focussed on allowing the unseen to be seen,” Danielle says. “Playing around with the micro vs macro. My work is playful and quirky, which invites the audience to develop meaningful ecological relationships in creative ways that inspire joy, well-being and connection.”
MAGNIFY not only provided an opportunity for the community to enjoy local creativity, it was also an innovative way to address negative thinking about insect species.
As Amelie Ecology explains beautifully in her catchy new tune “They’re not all pests!”, insects are the foundations of our ecological systems, yet very little is known about them.
Dr Kate Umbers, a Blue Mountains local and Head Lecturer in Zoology at Western Sydney University, is quick to point out that insects make up over 95% of the species of animals on Earth, with an estimated 300,000 species living in Australia alone.
“Of that only 100,000 have been properly documented and studied,” Kate reveals. “We don’t even know exactly what is out there.”
A native Australian Blue Banded Bee: the inspiration behind Amelie Ecology’s outfit at MAGNIFY. (Photo: Creative Commons license)
Danielle and Amelie understand that getting to know these creatures and developing a respect for them is a key driver for environmental health more widely.
Certainly, the children at the event had no negative assumptions about our friendly bugs and were delighted to become an insect for a day, as they fluttered, scuttled and crawled about the courtyard in fabulous handmade costumes.
Children buzz around Amelie Ecology during her performance.
Danielle also joined in the dress-up fun, appearing as a Dragonfly, while Amelie Ecology presented as a blue banded native bee, interacting with the children and parents throughout the event.
Danielle Carey as ‘Dragonfly’.
“We’ve always believed that nature isn’t separate from us: it’s woven into the fabric of who we are,” Danielle reveals. “Events like MAGNIFY and Wildground Creative Adventures programs, from bush school, playgroup, to literacy and science learning initiatives, are designed to reinforce this connection, and inspire wonder in the world around us.”
The Magnify event was made possible thanks to support from a Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust grant, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre and the generous work of volunteers.
Watch Amelie Ecology perform one of the tracks from the new album in this short video
Get Involved
Find out more about the exciting world of Insects and how you can help them.
The international website iNaturalist hosts photos and information about insects from across the world and their app is designed for budding citizen scientists. Find out more here:
A Community for Naturalists · iNaturalist
Invertebrates Australia has great resources and information about our native insects as well as opportunities to get involved in upcoming events and citizen science projects to help preserve and protect our insect populations:
Find out more about Amelie Ecology’s Creative work:
About me — Amelie Ecology (letsbeescientists.org)
Find out more about upcoming events:
Wild Ground Creative Adventures offers a range of activities and events. You can find out what is coming up here:
Blue Mountains Planetary Health Events Calendar is also a great way to find out about community events happening in your local area. Check out the Katoomba event calendar here:
What’s On In Katoomba & Surrounds | Katoomba Area Local News (katoombalocalnews.com)
And check out the events in our surrounding villages and Lithgow:
What’s On In Lithgow – Lithgow Area Local News (lithgowlocalnews.com)
What’s On In Blackheath & Surrounds | Blackheath Area Local News (blackheathnews.com)
What’s On In The Mid Mountains | Mid Mountains Local News (midmtnslocalnews.com)
What’s On In Springwood & Surrounds | Springwood Area Local News (springwoodlocalnews.com)
What’s On In The Lower Blue Mountains | Lower Mountains Local News (lowermtnslocalnews.com)
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This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
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