The University of Melbourne's Potter Museum of Art has opened the exhibition A velvet ant, a flower and a bird, which rethinks how intelligence is understood across art, science and the natural world.
The exhibition looks at the divide often drawn between natural and artificial intelligence, suggesting intelligence is not only a human trait but one shared across all living systems and materials.
The exhibition is curated by Professor Chus Martínez, Head of the Institute of Art Gender Nature, Basel Academy of Art and Design at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland.
"This exhibition explores how cognition extends beyond humans," Professor Chus Martínez said
"It is structured around three familiar figures from nature — a velvet ant, a flower and a bird. These figures carry symbolic and metaphorical weight that encourage us to reimagine what intelligence really means."
The exhibition brings together historic and contemporary works from University of Melbourne and external collections, alongside recent works and commissions by leading artists from countries including Australia Argentina, Denmark, Germany, India, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
Installation view of A velvet ant, a flower and a bird, Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne, 2026. Photography by Christian Capurro.
Professor Martínez said the exhibition also shows how museum collections can generate new ways of thinking.
"Collections hold many narratives — historical, cultural, economic and material — and by bringing them into living knowledge systems, we dissolve the binary between the natural and the artificial. The visitor enters a kind of ecosystem, where objects and digital media exist without hierarchy, allowing the imagination to roam widely."
The Director of Art Museums, Ms Charlotte Day, said the exhibition shows how our collections support transformative learning and research.
"Chus' visionary approach champions the arts' capacity to drive social change," Ms Day said.
"By bringing historic and contemporary works from different disciplines together we have created a valuable resource for our community, to encourage students to think differently, to foster dialogue across disciplines and to help build new connections where they may not have existed before."
Installation view of A velvet ant, a flower and a bird, Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne, 2026. Photography by Christian Capurro.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global, Culture and Engagement) Professor Michael Wesley said: "This exhibition is a powerful example of how global collaboration in the arts can transform minds and enrich lives.
"By bringing leading international artists to the Potter Museum of Art, we connect our students and community to bold new perspectives that challenge assumptions and spark vital conversations. It's experiences like this that expand our horizons and empower us all to imagine and help shape a more creative, connected society."
"The Potter Museum of Art offers an extraordinary environment where art, education and dialogue intersect, helping us reimagine the world and our place in it."
Installation view of A velvet ant, a flower and a bird, Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne, 2026. Photography by Christian Capurro.
A series of publications titled Art Museum Papers, authored by Chus Martínez, Laura Tripaldi and Neha Choksi, will accompany the exhibition as a formal research output and will offer audiences deeper insight into the research around the exhibition.
The exhibition will open with a public program titled The giant flower festival, featuring talks and performances by local and international artists on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 February 2026.
The exhibition will also anchor the Potter's annual Interdisciplinary Forum, presented this year under the theme Intelligence. The event will bring together leading University of Melbourne researchers and artists for a day of interdisciplinary collaboration and discussion.
A velvet ant, a flower and a bird is open until 6 June 2026 at the Potter Museum of Art.
