Gallery’s print exchange coincides with festival

MYTHS and “mythopeias” are the focus of an annual print exchange being held at Queenscliff Gallery and Workshop.

Whether it’s the dreamtime Rainbow Serpent of Aboriginal Australia or the mythical Greek epic of The 12 Labours of Hercules, stories are a means by which people come together and collective identities and histories are forged.

This year, these myths and mythopeias are just a few of the many stories that are being revisited, reinterpreted and reimagined for the Queenscliffe Literary Festival (QLF) – but not how you might expect.

To coincide with the festival, QG&W presents this year’s annual print exchange: “Historia”.

Historia will be an exhibition of 32 prints, created specifically in response to this year’s exchange theme.

When creating their hand-made works, invited print artists were allocated a myth or mythopaiea title from which to draw inspiration, in a process called a “print exchange”.

Each artist will create an edition of 35 prints of which 32 impressions will be exchanged among participating artists.

Two single impressions of each, as well as a full edition in an archival box set, will be available for sale.

This will be the third year that QG&W holds an annual print exchange as part of the literary festival feature events during the exhibition.

Featured artists include Michael Leunig, Marion Manifold, Jim Pavlidis and Gwen Scott, while print exchange artists include Helene Athanasiadis, Jenine Bailey, Dianne Colk, Warren Cooke, Beth Croce, Ann Cunningham, Sue Ernst, Silvi Glattauer, Kate Gorringe-Smith, Kim Herringe, Julie Holmes and Alex Hotchin.

The exhibition will run until June 30, with the official opening on May 5 at 3pm.