SWAN Hill Regional Art Gallery visitors will receive a new appreciation of the region, thanks to not one but two current exhibitions about human connection with land.
Vic McEwan’s Haunting, produced in partnership with the National Museum of Australia curator George Main, focuses on the history of the Murrumbidgee River, while the ACRE 21 Project examines the intersection of art and agriculture, in the culmination of their series of resident artist placements and concerts.
‘Haunting’ features large-scale still photography and video – themselves capturing acts of live art as historical images were projected on the Murrumbidgee in the heart of winter.
McEwan projected images of museum artefacts, old photographs and time-worn maps across the river, with fog, mist and campfire smoke creating this atmospheric exhibition.
It is as much a history lesson as an artistic experience, with colonial and Indigenous imagery on display telling the turbulent story of the river and the various people who have lived by its waters.
McEwan is a contemporary artist working with sound, video, photography, installation and performance, with an interest in site-specific work that brings together the history of the Murrumbidgee with these newer mediums.
McEwan’s work explored difficult themes around the lived experience of communities and places, and Haunting is no different.
One of the artworks was inspired by a breastplate artefact which, based on various interpretations, was both given to and forced upon Aboriginal individuals.
Another artwork is based on an Indigenous grinding plate artefact, while others feature a typewriter, and photography of a historical wheat harvest – reflecting the transformation of society and land as colonisation and agricultural developments swept the region.
Gallery director Ian Tully explained that the second exhibition was produced as a documentation of ACRE 21’s 11 events – including four concerts and seven artist residencies.
Mr Tully said both exhibitions have attracted significant attention since opening in early October.
“People spent a lot of time soaking it all up – there are a lot of concepts and interesting reading,” Mr Tulley said.
“We would like to open up and connect with more and more people who don’t necessarily have time to come to the gallery, and also to those who don’t think they’re interested in interpreting (the world) through the eyes of an artist.”
ACRE 21 features photography and film from various artists, and a stunning marionette of sorts – an emu called Lois – made by Margie McKay and Aunty Esther Kirby.
As part of this year’s events, communities across the Swan Hill, Gannawarra, Balranald and Murray River council areas have been involved as visual and performing artists from regional and metro locations were brought in to live, work and perform in this area of the world.
Hundreds of people were involved including farmers and schools who hosted week-long artist in residence programs with TWIG events, capping off the stays.
The ACRE Project seeks to open up the world of art to rural and regional communities, and these two collections of work, focusing on the theme of land, are ideal for drawing in a new audience.
Both gallery exhibitions will continue to be on display until November 28, with the official opening held tonight at the gallery with live music and some of the ACRE 21 artists in attendance.
