Gallery lands unique Women’s Weekly exhibition

THE Australian Women’s Weekly will be celebrating a major milestone with a once-only exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery later this year.

The Australian Women’s Weekly: 90 Years of an Australian Icon will showcase the history of the magazine and Australian culture.

Editor-in-chief of The Weekly, Nicole Byers, said she’s thrilled to bring some of the magazine’s best moments to the gallery.

“90 Years of an Australian Icon celebrates not only The Australian Women’s Weekly heritage of agenda-setting story-telling and trusted lifestyle and food content, it also explores how the brand has charted the changing lives of Australian women from 1933 to today,” she said.

Curatorial manager at the gallery, Lauren Ellis, said the institution has built a relationship with the magazine through projects such as Australiana: Designing a Nation, currently on until 25 June.

“Both Bendigo Art Gallery and Australian Women’s Weekly are working in the contemporary Australian fashion space, and we have a lot of shared friends and colleagues,” she said.

“One great example will be a knit-at-home pattern adapted from Jenny Kee’s iconic Blinky jumper worn by Princess Diana.

“Visitors can come and see Kee’s original in Australiana, then one knitted from the magazine’s pattern in 90 Years of an Australian Icon.”

Ms Ellis said the two groups worked closely together to decide what to include.

“We have found some special items which highlight the magazine’s place in Australian fashion history, as well as the creativity it inspired for everyday people at home, sewing, knitting, crafting, and cooking with humble materials,” she said.

“There are also some inspiring stories of trailblazing women who worked at the magazine.”

They include Ita Buttrose, who, at 33, took over the reins of The Weekly in the 1970s as the youngest editor of the publication ever, and Dorothy Drain, who wrote articles from the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Ms Ellis said, though it sounds obvious, before the internet, women would save their copies of the magazine so they could refer back to them.

“I would like younger people to see how magazines held worlds of information and inspiration in the pre-digital era,” she said.

“I think it’s very hard to imagine today when you can instantaneously Google how to make icing, or buy cheap baby clothes at so many large stores, or get deluged with red carpet images on social media after every Hollywood awards night.”

Having been in print since 1933, Ms Ellis said it is interesting to see how the magazine shows cultural changes over the years.

“Under Ita Buttrose’s leadership, the magazine really began meeting the appetite of Australian women for editorial which engaged with challenging social issues,” she said.

“You can also observe the gradual expansion of beauty ideals. For many decades the pages of the magazine reflected an ideal of slim, white, young, glamorous women.

“You can see how this has begun to change with a broader range of women’s lives reflected in the stories and images.

“But I think what has remained consistent is the magazine’s ability to blend fashion, escapism, news, useful tips and information, and practical resources.”

The Australian Women’s Weekly: 90 Years of an Australian Icon will run at the Bendigo Art Gallery from 27 May to 27 August.