2026 – The Turdis on Tour!

turdis flyer cropped

In 2026, The Turdis will be on tour! Travelling hither and thither to educate, entertain and edify – a bright pink laxative to the morally constipated citizens of NSW!

Here’s what we know so far:

Manly Art Gallery and Museum (MAG&M)
Fri 10 April to Sun 7 June, 2026
…as part of KSCA‘s exhibition The Art of Adaptation – Culture Changes Everywhere.
Here is a flyer for the launch event.
BONUS – On Sat 9 May, KSCA is presenting the CEAD forum at MAG&M. Pootopia is presenting a SHIT CULTURES workshop as part of the forum – book here.

Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
Fri 19 June to Sun 2 August, 2026
…as part of KSCA’s exhibition The Art of Adaptation – Culture Changes Everywhere which is touring to the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre in Katoomba after it finishes up in Manly.

CEMENTA Festival
Curated by Sebastian Henry Jones
Late September 2026 (exact date TBA)
Pootopia will be in residency in Kandos in mid-June to develop community connections for our contribution to the CEMENTA festival.

…possible further festival dates in late 2026, stay tuned…

Madame Crappington speaks to Aunty

Pootopia’s Madame Crappington* was invited to speak to Chris Calcino from ABC Radio in Far North Queensland last week. FNQ was in the grips of Tropical Cyclone Narelle, and oil prices were (and still are) soaring due to the Iran-Israel-USA war. With all the shit going down in the world right now, we’re not surprised that the ABC turned to Pootopia! for solutions.

Enjoy this short and lively interview about the delights of human manure composting!

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*Madame Crappington is represented by her agent Kim Williams. Contact Kim for further media appearance invitations.

Pootopia featured in UOW SDG report 2024

Pootopia is not only an art project, and a community engagement project, and an environmental campaign. It’s also an research project for artists, economists, and scientists at University of Wollongong.

In this report (12mb PDF file) UOW celebrates some of its research activities which align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Pootopia is featured on page 12.

Here’s a screenshot:

this is a screenshot from the report - several people stand in front of the pink Turdis composting toilet

The TURDIS World Premiere – 2 Nov 2024

Join us for the WORLD PREMIERE public appearance of The TURDIS.

We are partnering with the Wollongong Botanic Gardens to provide toileting services for the upcoming SUPER SATURDAY PLANT SALE.

Time: 730am-2pm

Location: Greenplan Nursery at Botanic Gardens – enter via 65 Northfields Avenue, North Wollongong.

The TURDIS is an innovation of the Pootopia research group at University of Wollongong.

Design by Kim Williams

Construction by Kim Williams and Lucas Ihlein

This project brings together art, engineering, and economics to investigate the impact of human manure composting.

On 2 November 2024 the Pootopia team will showcase a new toileting experience – THE TURDIS – an attractive, quick-assembly unit, servicing on-site events.

With THE TURDIS your poo and wee makes soil, not pollution!

THE TURDIS – choice of time-lords across the galaxy!

“I abhor chemical portaloos! Whenever I time-travel, I choose THE TURDIS” – Dr Poo.

The construction of THE TURDIS was supported by a grant from Culture Bank Wollongong.

The Pootopia project is funded by University of Wollongong’s Global Challenges program.

Graphic design for the TURDIS publicity material is by the John “Bristol Stool Chart” Causley.

Pootopia at the Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Award

2024 Environmental Art and Design Prize at Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Manly – Thursday 1 August 2024

We put together a small installation based around the Yours and Owls documentary video, for the recent Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Award at Manly Art Gallery and Museum.

On the shelf are three ‘vintages’ of humanure we have created in recent years – from Port Kembla, Capertee Valley, and the Yours and Owls Festival.

The installation also includes a V.I.Poo Tshirt, and a poster of our humanure manifesto.

Doctorin’ the Turdis!

New #pootopia phase! We commissioned a custom hot pink water tank to transform into a fully portable V.I.Poo Mark2 composting dunny!

Thanks to @rotoplasrainwatertanks for fabricating this beauty for us, manufactured right here in the ‘gong (actually #unanderra of course).

We will offer this to lucky crappers at the @wollongongbotanicgarden super Saturday plant sale in November !

Thanks so much to @culturebank_wollongong for funds towards this project!

(see this post on Instagram)

Now go listen to this!

Poo is taboo!

Poo is taboo!

Probably one of the reasons why poo is so funny (and why kids like to laugh about it) is because it’s taboo.

We laugh about poo. In our Global Challenges project, we get to enjoy a little frisson of naughtiness, because we are using the word “poo” in an academic context. Poo-puns are a useful way to get the conversation started – in our project names for example (VIPoo, Poo-topia, etc).

Poo is a taboo subject in polite society. It’s something that parents with babies are allowed to discuss, or doctors if you’ve got a stomach bug. Several years ago, when my kid was about 5, we were particularly fond of the “Bristol Stool Chart”. Now’s she’s nearly a teenager, I wonder if she would be less keen on me bringing it up in front of her buddies!
Continue reading “Poo is taboo!”