Ten Eighty

Matthew Dunne

The Engine Room
Block 1, Massey University Wellington

7 - 21 August 2026

Artist talk Thursday 6 August, 4pm

In association with Photobook/NZ 

The Engine Room warmly invites you to our upcoming exhibition Matthew Dunne - Ten Eighty. The exhibition features a new body of work and an accompanying book by Melbourne-based photographer and publisher Matthew Dunne.

Floor talk with the artist at 4 PM on Thursday 6th August (limited capacity). Show open from 7-21st August, M-F, 12-4 PM, and special weekend hours on 8th and 9th, 12-4 PM. In association with Photobook NZ https://www.photobooknz.com/ For more on Matt's projects see his website: https://mattdunne.xyz/ 

"Australia has an incredibly fraught relationship with one of its apex predators: the Dingo. In Ten Eighty, I examine the animal, its treatment since colonialisation, ongoing persecution and how it is destroyed. The animal is a problem purely because it attacks sheep and the reality is agriculture and conservation are at odds.This is a wide-ranging and expansive project, as the continued persecution of Dingoes occurs nation-wide. Australia is home to the world’s largest environmental barrier—the Dingo Proof Fence—which exists purely to exclude the animal. Several states in Australia, despite the nation leading the world in extinction, have legislated execution orders—requiring landholders to kill Dingoes if their presence is detected. In Australia, the tension between agriculture and animal is one that has always been ruled in favour of agriculture. Yet, as farming patterns change, relationships to animals evolve and consequences of exclusion become more pronounced this project is centered on the question of ‘is this the best we can do?’". — Matthew Dunne