Events at The University of Manchester
  • University home
  • Events
  • Home
  • Exhibitions
  • Conferences
  • Lectures and seminars
  • Performances
  • Events for prospective students
  • Sustainability events
  • Family events
  • All Events

UnNatural History at WOW Festival Manchester: Tania Kovats’ MOONMOTH

image
Dates:25 May 2024 - 26 May 2024
Times:All day
What is it:Exhibitions
Organiser:Creative Manchester
How much:Varies
Who is it for:University staff, Adults, Current University students, General public
See travel and contact information
Add to your calendar

More information

  • Book WOW Festival tickets

Other events

  • In category "Exhibitions"
  • By Creative Manchester

Tania Kovats’ new artwork ‘MOONMOTH’ inspired by 17th Century naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian

25–26 May 2024 at Aviva Studios in Manchester

For its 2024 edition, WOW (Women of the World) Festival has invited Invisible Dust to curate a new UnNatural History commission by Tania Kovats whose new work ‘MOONMOTH’ explores the legacy of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717). Kovats’ drawings will be of cycles, light and dark, balance and symmetry, the lunar cycle, transformation, metamorphism. ‘MOONMOTH’ will be exhibited as part of the first ever WOW Manchester festival, produced by The WOW Foundation and Factory International.

To explore Maria Sibylla Merian’s legacy in relation to the current biodiversity crisis, Invisible Dust has brought Tania Kovats together with biologist Diana Arzuza curator of the entomological collection at Manchester Museum, Jeanne Robinson entomologist from Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum and Dr Jenna Ashton of The University of Manchester - a lecturer in Heritage Studies and research platform Creative Manchester's Creative and Civic Futures lead. Kovats’ new work, ‘MOONMOTH’, will explore insects’ need for dark skies and how our human influence through artificial lighting is currently threatening the animals Merian studied. Today, over 40% of the world’s insect species are in serious decline, and moths are vital pollinators impacted by artificial light at night.

Maria Sibylla Merian was an incredible scientific illustrator and entomologist who is credited with ‘changing the nature of art and science’ and who, 300 years ago, made discoveries through her art about metamorphosis and life cycles at a time when there was no scientific idea about the relationship between caterpillars, moths and butterflies. During her lifetime women had little or no access to University education. Still, through her stepfather Jacob Marrell (1614–1681), Merian learnt engraving and from age 13 began keeping silk worms (life cycle video in link), seeing with her own eyes their metamorphosis in their 6-8 week life cycle.

Maria Sibylla Merian’s discoveries and contribution to natural science were enhanced by an extraordinary journey from 1699–1701 to Suriname, South America with her daughter where she created the drawings for ‘Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium’ (1705). This was both a scientifically and artistically internationally acclaimed publication of drawings and watercolours of caterpillars, pupae, moths and butterflies interacting with plants. Crucially, this book focused on the interdependence of species 200 years before the modern notion of ecology. Carl Linneaus, the founder of modern taxonomy was able to name over 100 species thanks to Merian’s Suriname drawings.

Alongside this new commission, interdisciplinary students at The University of Manchester will attend workshops on art and science collaborations, hosted by Tania Kovats and curators at Invisible Dust.

This project is supported through the prestigious Simon Industrial and Professional (SIP) Fellowship, The University of Manchester awarded to Invisible Dust.

WOW Festival tickets are available here: https://factoryinternational.org/whats-on/wow-manchester/

Price: Varies

Travel and Contact Information

Find event

Aviva Studios
Water Street
Manchester

Contact event

Creative Manchester

creative@manchester.ac.uk

Contact us

  • +44 (0) 161 306 6000

Find us

The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK

Connect with the University

  • Facebook page for The University of Manchester
  • X (formerly Twitter) page for The University of Manchester
  • YouTube page for The University of Manchester
  • Instagram page for The University of Manchester
  • TikTok page for The University of Manchester
  • LinkedIn page for The University of Manchester

  • Privacy /
  • Copyright notice /
  • Accessibility /
  • Freedom of information /
  • Charitable status /
  • Royal Charter Number: RC000797
  • Close menu
  • Home
    • Featured events
    • Today's events
    • The Whitworth events
    • Manchester Museum events
    • Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre events
    • Martin Harris Centre events
    • The John Rylands Library events
    • Exhibitions
    • Conferences
    • Lectures and seminars
    • Performances
    • Events for prospective students
    • Sustainability events
    • Family events
    • All events