In Wagga Wagga (NSW) things are getting into full swing with the Riverina Science Hub Festival, which will host activities in multiple venues over the coming week.

Supported by Wagga Wagga City Council and assisted by a major National Science Week grant, the Riverina Science Hub team have put together a week of science events and activities for all comers.

A must-see while travelling through the region is the renowned, nightly digital projections on the walls of the Civic Centre. Set in the atmospheric surrounds of the Wollundry lagoon, we were a few days too early to catch the new Indigenous Star Stories projections being created by four Wiradjuri Elders (Uncle James Ingram, Aunty Sandy Warren, Aunty Joyce Hampton and Aunty Lorraine Tye), working with digital media producer Yenny Huber and animator Tim Amio. Their work tells us the two stories of Pleiades (Seven Sisters), and the Emu, and should open for viewing later in the week.

In the meantime we were excited to catch Riverina Recollections by Pam Readford, a layered composition on the theme of native fauna and its relationship with the city. Gazing up through the darkness at the twinned projection screens, we saw birds and marsupials appear and inhabit the space, only to fragment, dissolve and reform in new and unusual ways. Even in silhouette, these creatures are both unmistakably familiar and typically elusive. Appearing just long enough to remind us, through their distinctive forms and behaviours, of how vibrant, diverse and unique our native animals are.

You can catch the Night Lights projections every evening at the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre from 6.30pm. Look for more events in the Riverina, and across Australia, on our events calendar.

This guest post is the first of a series from the folk travelling with the Mobile Science Week Venue throughout regional NSW and Victoria during National Science Week.

Would you like to write a guest post for National Science Week? Please contact us at Inspiring.Australia@industry.gov.au