The Hon. Dr Barry Jones AO opens the 'Antarctica' exhibition at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery as part of International Consortium of Humanities Centres and Institutes conference 2012 Annual Conference on 'Anthropocene Humanities'.

This exhibition has been conceived to complement the 2012 CHCI conference on the Humanties and Climate Change, which is being convened by the Australian National University Research School of the Humanties and the Arts' Humanities Research Centre.  The conference explores the effect of the agency of human beings on the Earth's ecosystems and our complex and challenging future.

The exhibition, Antarctica, presents the responses of seven artists: Sidney Nolan; Chris Drury (UK); Bea Maddock; Anne Noble (NZ); Jan Senbergs; Philip Hughes (UK) and Jorg Schmeisser, to their experiences in visiting Antarctica since 1960. Each of the artists selected has undertaken a physical voyage to the continent and confronted the extremes of climate, environment, geography and isolation. These themes, as well as connection to science and creativity, are reflected in their artwork.

The exhibition is co-curated by Dr Caroline Turner of the Humanities Research Centre, Nancy Sever, Director of the ANU Drill Hall Gallery and Tony Oates, Exhibitions Officer.