Four exceptional exhibitions Launching at the Gallery & Museum

Four exceptional exhibitions Launching at the Gallery & Museum

Cr Cindi Bush will officially open two local and two travelling exhibitions at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum, 6pm, Friday 15 June 2018. Join us for the launch of these four exceptional exhibitions: margaret worthington Artist in Residence Shetland, Photographic Portraits - Celebrating the Proud Men & Women of Boyne Smelters Ltd., Warakurna: All the stories got into our minds and eyes, as well as Ad Wer: Story of the Stars from Eastern Torres Strait.

Local exhibiting artist, Bob Trask, will be talking at the launch about his works on display, while Margaret Worthington will be presenting a short live performance in relation to her current exhibition. 

Margaret Worthington, one of our well-known local artist, saw a TV documentary on puffins and decided she really needed to meet a puffin, inspiring her residency. margaret worthington Artist in Residence Shetland recreates the artist’s working process whilst at her residency in Shetland, United Kingdom. The project is supported by the Gladstone Region Regional Arts Development Fund, a partnership between the Queensland Government and Gladstone Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. Margaret will be in her exhibition on Thursday mornings to discuss what Artist in Residence projects are available and how she went about her Shetland visits.

Photographic Portraits - Celebrating the Proud Men & Women of Boyne Smelters Ltd. is an exhibition of portraitphotographs of Boyne Smelters Ltd. staff taken by Bob Trask. The images, taken in the workplace, were a way of celebrating the efforts of employees. A photo book, Proud Working Men and Women of Boyne Smelters, published in 2016 was the outcome of the project. This exhibition showcases a selection from over 400 images that were taken for the book.

The Warakurna exhibition was launched at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, in December, 2012 and is now touring the country. This exhibition was developed and is presented by the National Museum of Australia, with the project being assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program. Warakurna: All the Stories Got into our Minds and Eyes, is a collection of paintings which was produced at Warakurna, a community at the foot of the Rawlinson Ranges in Western Australia, 300 kilometres west of Uluru (Ayers Rock). The works are the product of Warakurna Artists, a thriving art centre in the heart of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands.

“These paintings provide first-hand accounts of significant events which shaped the lives of an Aboriginal community and help all Australians understand their complex history,” said Dr Mathew Trinca, the director of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

Ad Wer: Story of the Stars from Eastern Torres Strait is a new body of linocut print works by Tommy Pau examining constellations used by the Eastern Islanders of the Torres Strait and their science of astronomy. Pau tells his own account of when he was a child of observing the sky: We were awakened early to observe the rest of the day’s events by looking at the sky for signs and begin our chores before going to school or meet with cousins and friends to play. As in, before days, old men woke early to observe the sky and stars to tell what kind of day it will be. They also did this in the evening to predict what tomorrow will be like. Ad Wer: Story of the Stars from Eastern Torres Strait has been supported by the Queensland Government, the Australian Government Visual Arts and Craft Strategy and is being toured by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts.

Photographic Portraits - Celebrating the Proud Men & Women of Boyne Smelters Ltd., Warakurna: All the Stories Got into our Minds and Eyes and Ad Wer: Story of the Stars from Eastern Torres Strait are on display until 4 August 2018. margaret worthington Artist in Residence Shetland continues until 18 August 2018. For all enquiries, contact the Gallery & Museum on (07) 4976 6766 or email gragm@gladstone.qld.gov.au.