Ipswich Art Gallery
d'Arcy Doyle Place, Nicholas Street
IPSWICH QLD 4305
Camels, dung-beetles, huskies, army horses, quarantine beagles, bomb-detector dogs, microscopic worms – and lots more – are part of this exhibition. All these animals have worked for the federal government – hauling, chewing, sniffing, carrying, burrowing.
This exhibition is one for all ages. Sit on a full-size replica of a camel saddle, sniff a suitcase to see if you’d make a good quarantine beagle, view worms through a microscope, or play an interactive game on husky sledding in Antarctica.
The exhibition has fascinating objects – military dog boots and goggles, horse harnesses, bullock bells, a prickly pear 'leaf' full of grubs, even a cowpat. And it's full of stories – tracker dogs in Vietnam, the Light Horse in the Middle East, and the cactoblastis moth that saved an area of Australia the size of England from a cactus pest. There is film on military horses and dogs, on huskies and the work of the Customs dog teams.
Want to know how to drive a bullock team, how dung beetles work, and how a camel is adapted to arid regions? Information here is adapted for all ages – while younger visitors play the husky interactive game, adults can look at some remarkable historical records on huskies and Antarctica.
This exhibition will touch the emotions too. The album of military mascots shows the emotional role animals play in wartime, and there are testimonials to their ‘fellow workers’ by people who worked with the animals.
Australia was and is shaped by the labour of animals. This exhibition tells some of the stories of our animal workers.
See the online education resources for It's a Dog's Life!.
