Song of the Cricket resonates in Venice
A striking installation for the Venice Biennale of Architecture combines ecological science, architectural design and sound art in a living, breathing conservation experiment.
A tiny insect is making a big comeback in Venice, through an extraordinary collaboration between the University of Melbourne and Venice Biennale. Supported by Dr Janet A Schapper, Song of the Cricket features until November 2025 as part of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
The project highlights the plight of the critically endangered Adriatic Marbled Bush-Cricket. Its song was once woven through the natural soundscape of Venice but is now rarely heard, as habitat destruction has decimated the cricket population.
Art replicates life
Song of the Cricket is a call to rethink the way we shape our cities. Its simple and compelling message is: cities are not just for people. Urban areas are ecosystems, and their health depends on the smallest inhabitants.
The installation features mobile islands planted with varying types of vegetation, afloat on the Venice lagoon. These habitats are designed to test which conditions best support cricket breeding, and ultimately to help reintroduce the species and grow the population. An original sound installation brings the crickets’ song to life and draws on the city’s musical history by imaginatively repurposing the work of Vivaldi.
“This is a reintroduction strategy,” says landscape architect and ecologist Professor Alex Felson – a co-creator on the project.
We’re not just working to save one species; we’re rebuilding the base of a food web.
“Crickets are food for birds, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals. Without them, the associated food webs are fragmented.”
A multi-disciplinary collaboration
This unique project springs from a partnership between the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning and the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. Professor Felson led the design of the floating cricket habitats, while Head of Composition and Associate Professor at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Associate Professor Miriama Young crafted an evocative soundscape that reimagines the natural chorus of the lagoon.
The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology assisted with conservation efforts, working with industry partner ARUP on a geospatial study to examine the impacts of human and climate activity on cricket habitats. This helped researchers identify optimal sites for translocation. Insights from previous reintroduction trials – of grasshoppers – conducted by the School of BioSciences in Royal Park in Melbourne also informed their work.
This remarkable project demonstrates how interdisciplinary partnerships can lead to globally recognised innovation. Song of the Cricket is just one of the many projects that sees science, art and design working in harmony to draw attention to the insidious yet urgent issue of biodiversity loss, and to imagine new possibilities for conservation.
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