Temple: The majesty of Australia’s unique birdlife takes flight at NFSA Acton

Posted on 23 April, 2024

A free audiovisual experience commissioned for VIVID Festival has landed at the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) in Acton, featuring a beloved yet unexpected set of stars.

Temple, a stunning audiovisual installation created by Australian artists Leila Jeffreys and Melvin J. Montalban, is shown on a triptych of towering screens, allowing minute details to come to life in slow motion.

Details of what, you might ask? Of the humble cockatoo, of course. It may sound like a simple premise, but the reality of Temple is anything but.

Featuring expressive Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, Galahs and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos in rich high-definition, you don’t have to be a birdwatcher or Australian fauna fanatic to appreciate the elegance in each of the subjects motions as they stretch, ruffle, drink, bathe, observe and take flight in a larger-than-life display of what makes Australia’s unique natural environment so spectacular.

Still from Temple by Leila Jeffreys x Melvin J. Montalban.

To mimic this environment, the installation is extended by a shallow pool of still water, reflecting the elements of water used in the cinematic recordings and bringing the outdoors in.

“There is something truly magical about experiencing the work indoors, at this scale, with a purpose-built reflection pool of water,” explains photographer and video artist and co-creator Leila Jeffreys.

“Temple features cockatoos — birds that we feel are ingrained in the Australian psyche. They move us to tears in the best possible way, and our hope is that we have created an installation that stirs the human spirit, encourages quiet contemplation, and reminds us of our connection to a universe that all living beings are a part of.”

Still from Temple by Leila Jeffreys x Melvin J. Montalban.

Jeffreys’ collaborator on Temple, filmmaker and artist Melvin J. Montalban, adds that the unique architecture of the Gallery at NFSA Acton lends itself perfectly to Temple’s newest home.

“To exhibit Temple at its intended scale, in a beautiful indoor space such as the Art Deco Gallery of the NFSA, is such a privilege,” says Melvin. “We create our work as places of gathering, often to meditate on the natural world and our place in it, so to create another space for that here in Australia’s capital is an absolute honour.”

Leila Jeffreys and Melvin J. Montalban.

Naturally, environmental and conservation themes are inescapable in a work like Temple. Even the installation’s name speaks to the urgency of the fight against climate change, of society’s need to take action, before footage such as this becomes a relic of what once was.

Completely free to visit and enjoy, Temple is showing until 30 June. Open daily, the NFSA is also home to The Library, which displays more than 280 curious audiovisual artefacts, and the Mediatheque, where visitors can relax and enjoy clips from the NFSA collection.