In Conversation: The Dolphin Embassy Archives

A public presentation and discussion between New Landscapes Institute curator Joni Taylor & artist Alexandra Morphett on Ant Farm's Dolphin Embassy.

The Dolphin Embassy Archives are presented as part of Hervey Bay Regional Gallery's exhibition, Strange Kinship (23 August - 16 November 2025). The archives are part of an ongoing project curated by Joni Taylor (New Landscapes Institute), and feature previously unseen material sourced with Ant Farm collaborator Alexandra Morphett.

In 1977, members of the radical San Francisco architecture collective Ant Farm arrived in Australia, to work on the Dolphin Embassy – an “interspecies communication station” which would facilitate communication between humans and dolphins. While the Dolphin Embassy was never realised, it became the stuff of legends and continues to inspire to this day.

Join Joni Taylor and Alexandra Morphett as they discuss this unique moment in our cultural history, which in its own way both brought together an awareness of the environmental destruction being done to the planet while also celebrating new technologies, utopia and hope for the future.

Image: Dolphin Embassy Archives curated by New Landscapes Institute.Courtesy of artist Alexandra Morphett 

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Alexandra Morphett studied in Sydney at the National Art School and met Doug Michels and Ant Farm in her final year. She worked with Michels on numerous projects in the US and Australia including the “Dolphin Embassy”, “Contact” - the newsletter for the Dolphin Embassy, the film “Brainwave” and the Media Room Houston. Following her work on the Dolphin Embassy Morphett has continued to work in media as a publisher, editor and writer.

Joni Taylor is curator and founder of the New Landscapes Institute  - a nomadic research initiative that facilitates art and architecture collaborations. exploring the transformation of landscapes and presenting ideas and strategies for the future. She works in partnership with artists, architects and designers and experiments with new methods of curating and exhibition. Her projects have been presented in Australia and internationally including the Biennale of Sydney RIVUS and the Sydney Opera House.