Cat’s Paw Nebula (NIRCam Image) - NASA Science (.gov)

Artistic depiction of Invictibellatrix amberina alongside contemporary fauna in the lower part of the Wessex Formation. Credit: Sergey Krasovskiy and Pedro Salas, Royal Society Open Science. The first thing people think of when talking about a paleontological discovery is that it takes place in the field. Dinosaur fossils gradually emerge after the meticulous use of special instruments. But a group of scientists has just made an important discovery without digging it up, instead searching through stored drawers.

AustraliaAqua Paradiso was an exhibition curated in 2022 by the National Asian Culture Center (ACC). This contemporary art project brought together 11 artists from Asia and around the world to explore the theme of “water” from aesthetic, philosophical, and ecological perspectives. The exhibition took place over a three-month period at ACC in Gwangju, offering a multilayered examination of the primordial  nature of life contained within water and its relationship with human society. Aqua Paradiso now continues in 2026 as a touring exhibition at Korean Cultural Centres in India and Australia. This edition features three of the Korean artists who took part in the original exhibition: Hyewon Kwon, Boo Jihyun, and Eunhae Jung (eco orot). Each uses a different visual language to approach the responsiveness and dynamics of water and the transformative sensibilities of the Anthropocene era. More than just a resource or part of the backdrop, the exhibition looks at water as a sensory presence and ecological actor. Ancient civilizations viewed water as the emotional product of transcendent deities, harboring feelings of the sublime in the face of its overwhelming majesty.