Gallery gets top state award

AN exhibition curated by staff at the Art Gallery of Ballarat has won big in this year’s Victorian Museums and Galleries Awards.

Beating About the Bush: A new lens on Australian Impressionism won the top spot in the awards’ Medium Project of the Year (Gallery) category.

Art Gallery of Ballarat director Louise Tegart said the exhibition, which fused Australian Impressionist paintings with contemporary photography, was all about exploring a new dimension to the original works.

“Beating About the Bush aimed to explore what has so often been left out of the Australian Impressionism discussion, both within the works and in the wider cultural conversation,” she said.

“Where many people know and love the work of the Australian Impressionists, we knew that there was a much bigger story to be told, addressing issues pertaining to immigration, First Nations people, gender and social status and the recognition of female artists of the period.

“While the exhibition was an opportunity to explore the Gallery’s very significant collection and long history, it also highlights the Gallery’s practice of looking for thematic connections between old and new works in the collection, allowing audiences to examine them from a fresh perspective.”

The award-winning show ran from Saturday 5 November 2022 to Sunday 19 February this year.

To complement the exhibition, a public program took place including two readings of bush poet Henry Lawson’s works, and a panel discussion with three displaying photographers.

Bendigo Art Gallery’s Australiana: Designing a Nation, and The University of Melbourne’s Peter Tyndall exhibition were also shortlisted.