Working in a regional context made me consider the differences between art institutions in metropolitan centres and the spaces in the regions where art emerges alongside agricultural labour. It led me to reflect on how site-specific, community-led performances might engage with a state art collection, and what kinds of relationships could unfold between them. Rather than aligning my work with a single object from the Collection, I chose to film part of the work from within the Collection itself. I was particularly drawn to the uncanny proximity between natural history displays and so-called fantasy creatures—how museums once blurred science and spectacle, exhibiting mermaids, bunyips, and spirit-beasts alongside more 'legitimate' specimens, only later separating them through the lens of Western taxonomy. This slippage made me reflect on what is protected and preserved within these institutions, and what is dismissed or damaged outside them. In this context, I hope to draw attention to the protections afforded to cultural objects—particularly those deemed worthy of conservation—against the ongoing violence of agricultural and extractive practices in regional areas. These dynamics implicate not only industry, but also cultural institutions and the art market itself, where other forms of knowledge and lifeworlds—especially those grounded in non-metropolitan, more-than-human, working-class vocalities and ancestral systems—are often made invisible.