Hervey Bay Regional Gallery 2023 Program Guide

2023 Program Guide

Hervey Bay Regional Gallery

About Hervey Bay Regional Gallery

Through curatorial and engagement

programs Hervey Bay Regional Gallery platforms hyper-local stories with timely and nationally significant themes. HBRG aims to become a leader in our commitment to platforming Butchulla perspectives, truth-telling, and the exploration of complex histories and contemporary identities of the Fraser Coast region through art.

Getting Here

We are located at: 166 Old Maryborough Road, Pialba, Qld. Parking is available via Charles St and pedestrian access is via Charles St and Main St.

Opening Hours

Mondays: Closed

Tuesdays - Fridays: 10am - 4pm

Weekends: 10am - 2pm

Galleries close for exhibition

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Contact Us

Email: regionalgallery@frasercoast. qld.gov.au

Phone: 07 4197 4206

Website: hbrg.com.au

Accessibility

Art is for everyone and Hervey Bay Regional Gallery (HBRG) is fully accessible. For more information head to hbrg.com.au/visit-us

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Cover image: Mia Boe, Satisfaction of one’s own reflection, 2021, synthetic polymer on linen.

Acknowledgement of Country

Galangoor djali (good day) to you all as you stop to take time to read this Acknowledgement of Country. This is an important opportunity for you to connect to and build your knowledge and understanding of the Custodians of this land, the Butchulla people.

We pay our respects to Butchulla ancestors, old people and Elders. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who gather on these lands.

From Double Island Point in the south, west to Bauple Mountain, northwest around Maryborough and north to the Burrum River. Look east across the coastal waters to take in the great sand island K’gari. Wherever you travel within these boundaries, you will be connecting to Butchulla dha - the lands of the Butchulla people.

Butchulla people have lived on and cared for these lands for thousands upon thousands of years. The impact of invasion, massacres, frontier wars, dispossession, removal policy and stolen generation resonates in the lives and stories of the Butchulla people. Throughout, the strength

and resilience of Butchulla Old Ones (Bilam), Elders and community continues, with connection to these lands, culture and lore. Stories, information, teachings and respect were handed down generation to generation and this old way continues to this day.

Butchulla now live in this modern day world and the government guidelines and regulations of the day. Butchulla stand strong in their role as original and ongoing custodians of this land and our younger generations are born to this knowledge and responsibility.

The Hervey Bay Regional Gallery (HBRG) has worked alongside the Butchulla Community in designing the gallery brand and strategic vision with respect to this gallery standing in and connecting to Butchulla Country and community.

In respect for Butchulla custodians, the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery logo incorporates three lines to represent the three Butchulla lore.

1. Minyang Galangoor gu, djaa kalim baya-m

What is good for the land must come first

2. Minyan waa nyinung, waa bunmalee dhamma-n

Do not touch or take anything that does not belong to you

3. Waygau nyin gamindu, biralunbar nyin wumga-n

If you have plenty, you must share

HBRG continues with its aim to ensure all stories, issues and celebrations of Butchulla and other indigenous people is shared and included in the visual journey, here in and Maryborough.

With this knowledge in mind, we welcome you to the experiences found in and around Hervey Bay Regional Gallery. We leave you with one important message to be acknowledged throughout your travels on all custodial lands around Australia.

Wanya nyin yangu, wanai Djinang djaawherever you go, leave only footprints.

Galangoor nyin - Thank you

–Aunty Karen Hall, Butchulla Elder

Written on behalf of Hervey Bay Regional Gallery and the Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation.

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Welcome to our 2023 program

A message from the Mayor

Welcome to the 2023 program for the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery.

As you can see, this year we have some truly extraordinary exhibitions here: in a space designed to inspire, challenge, and engage.

Our team at the gallery is committed to sharing art within our community. Through art we can better understand the world around us and how we are all connected.

I hope you enjoy spending time in the Gallery and find time to engage, learn and appreciate the diverse displays and programs featured this year.

– Mayor George Seymour

A message from the HBRG Director

In 2022 Hervey Bay Regional Gallery re-launched with a new team of professional staff and an ambitious strategic plan. Continuing this momentum in 2023, we are proud to present a diverse offering of exhibitions, public programs and operational initiatives that will propel HBRG towards the goals of our 2022-2026 Strategic Plan.

This year, some of Australia’s leading contemporary artists will engage in topics that directly affect the Fraser Coast, such as the housing crisis, wildlife care and management and a Queensland staple – Rugby League. We remain committed to telling stories of this region and sharing perspectives from our diverse community.

HBRG acknowledges that we are on Butchulla land and will continue to learn, share and celebrate Butchulla values and culture in all of our offerings. The team are thrilled to present this year’s exhibition program and look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

– Ashleigh Whatling

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In 2022 the gallery was thrilled to announce our first acquisition since reopening, Dr. Fiona Foley’s epic three channel video installation, Janjari.

Janjari presents an immersive celebration of the majestic beauty and spiritual significance of K’gari for Badtjala people. Janjari is the

Badtjala word for spirit guardian, paying homage to the role K’gari’s spirit plays in the lives of Badtjala people. Laced with Foley’s signature tension between a haunted past, contemplation of solitude and moments of joy and humour, Janjari is a significant addition to HBRG’s collection.

Janjari will be on display at HBRG throughout 2023.

Collection Highlight

Image: Fiona Foley, Janjari, 2022 (production still). Courtesy of the artist. 5

Fernando do Campo: To companion a companion

11 March –

21 May 2023

To companion a companion is a playful exhibition by Fernando do Campo that proposes humans as a companion species to birds. With one foot in the field and the other in the archives, do Campo focuses on ‘companioning’ as an artistic strategy, researching the knotted histories of urban multispecies encounters through listening, painting, archiving and plural histories.

To companion a companion is a collaborative project by Contemporary Art Tasmania, UNSW Galleries and PICA toured by Contemporary Art Tasmania.

Contemporary Art Tasmania is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its principal arts funding body, by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy and is assisted through Arts Tasmania by the Minister for the Arts.

Exhibition

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Opposite page: Fernando do Campo, Pishing in the archive, 2021, single channel HD video (production still).

The Dingo Project: Wongari

11 March –

23 May 2023

Before European settlers came to K’gari, two types of dingoes were known to the Butchulla. One was Wat’dha (the camp dingo) and the other was Wongari (the wild dingo). Wongari have been and always should be wild. - Conway Burns.

Originally curated for Ngununggula in the NSW Southern Highlands, The Dingo Project: Wongari shifts the focus of Djon Mundine’s curatorial project to Butchulla country and the Wongari of K’gari. Featuring artists from across the country alongside Butchulla perspectives, The Dingo Project: Wongari investigates the spiritual mythology and historical narratives that connect dingoes to Aboriginal Australia.

Curated by Djon Mundine.

The Dingo Project is toured by Ngununggula | Retford Park Southern Highlands Regional Gallery. Publication support by Robyn Martin-Weber. Exhibition support by Sarah and Berkeley Cox.

Exhibition

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Opposite page: Mia Boe, Satisfaction of one’s own reflection, 2021, synthetic polymer on linen.

Gordon Hookey: A MURRIALITY

9 June –

27 August 2023

A MURRIALITY is the first survey of renowned Waanyi artist Gordon Hookey. Across sculpture, printmaking, video, and large-scale painting, A MURRIALITY presents perspectives on historical and contemporary issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Best known for its biting satire of Australian culture and politics, Hookey’s work interprets the world through the lens of a Murri person, questioning everyday language, cultural representations, legal injustices and international politics.

Curated by Liz Nowell and José Da Silva.

Please note: This exhibition contains adult content including strong language and graphic imagery.

Developed in partnership with the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane and presented with the support of the Australia Council for the Arts, Gordon Darling Foundation, IMA Commissioners Circle and UNSW Commissioners Circle. The national tour is supported by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program.

Exhibition

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Opposite page: Gordon Hookey in his studio. Photography: Rhett Hammerton. Courtesy of the artist and IMA.

Origin Story

9 June –

27 August 2023

Nothing says Queensland quite like the colour Maroon. Inspired by our state’s passion for the greatest sporting rivalry of all time, Origin Story brings together artists from across the region to reflect on the cultural contribution of State of Origin to Queensland’s identity. From the tribal costuming of spectatorship to the adulation of our immortal state heroes, Origin Story celebrates the significance of Rugby League within the Fraser Coast community.

Featuring commissioned artworks from Teho Ropeyarn, Phoebe Paradise, Erika Scott and many more, Origin Story brings together sport and art like you’ve never seen before.

Exhibition

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Opposite page: Phillip Piperides, Darren Lockyer, 2011, bronze sculpture

Girra: Fraser Coast National Art Prize

23 September –12 November 2023

Drawing its name from the Butchulla word for sand, Girra: Fraser Coast National Art Prize is a new initiative of Hervey Bay Regional Gallery that brings cutting-edge artworks from across Australia to the Fraser Coast. Boasting a $25,000 first prize, Girra will feature artworks that demonstrate a conceptual engagement with the intersection of people, place and the environment, offering insight into our reciprocal and inextricable relationship with the environment. The inaugural Girra: Fraser Coast National Art Prize will be judged by renowned Badtjala artist Dr. Fiona Foley and Senior Curator of UQ Art Museum Peta Rake.

Exhibition

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Art Prize

Fraser Coast National Art Prize

GIRRA

Alan Peebles: Bird Man

9 September –

12 November 2023

Between 2003 and 2009, Hervey Bay wildlife enthusiast Alan Peebles painted 103 murals of local bird species on bus shelters throughout the Fraser Coast region. Twenty years on from the first of these murals, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery presents a celebration of the generosity, vision and community spirit of Peebles’ bus shelter project. Presenting a selection of murals alongside his selfpublished wildlife documentaries, Alan Peebles: Bird Man draws on Peebles’ passion for the region’s wildlife, forming a charming and idiosyncratic portrait of Hervey Bay through the eyes of one of its prominent advocates.

Exhibition

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Opposite page: Alan Peebles, Eastern Curlews bus shelter painting, 2009.

Hervey Bay School of Displacement with Keg de Souza

25 November 2023 –

11 February 2024

In response to the housing crisis that faces the Fraser Coast and many communities around Australia, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery is proud to present Hervey Bay School of Displacement with nationally renowned artist Keg de Souza. An iterative, socially engaged and site-specific exhibition project, de Souza’s School of Displacement series has been staged previously in Redfern, Sydney in 2016 and North Melbourne in 2019. Turning its focus to the Fraser Coast, Hervey Bay School of Displacement invites our community to engage in active and deep listening through a suite a public programs designed to share stories, connect and build resilience together.

Hervey Bay School of Displacement is presented in partnership with the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre and Fraser Coast Regional Council’s Community Development and Engagement Team.

Exhibition

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Opposite page: The Redfern School of Displacement taking place within Keg de Souza’s We Built This City, 2016, for the 20th Biennale of Sydney.

Michael Cook: Livin’ the Dream

25 November 2023 –11 February 2024

Raised in Hervey Bay and currently residing on the Sunshine Coast, Michael Cook interrogates the legacy of colonisation by remixing, inverting and reconstructing icons of Australian identity. Theatrically staged and highly polished, Cook’s photographic artworks tease out the fictitious possibilities of familiar narratives, combining the personal with the political and the historical with the imaginary.

Drawing on a recent gift to the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery Art Collection, works from Cook’s series Livin’ the Dream (2020) will be displayed alongside a new body or work, Fake (2022). Considered together, these works offer a timely reflection on the alienating absurdity of consumer desire and the “Australian dream”. As Michael explains, “When I consider our obsession with material wealth, I realise that maybe what we really want are the things that Aboriginal culture has always valued – community, family and giving back”.

Exhibition

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Opposite page: Michael Cook, Livin’ the dream (BBQ), 2020, Inkjet print.

What’s On

HBRG Staff

Director: Ashleigh Whatling

Curator: Llewellyn Millhouse

Gallery Officer: Lois Shoebridge

Public Programs and Community

Engagement Officer: Sarah Thomson

Indigenous Projects Officer: Sam Raveneau

Hervey Bay Regional Gallery hosts a regular program of exhibition openings, artist talks, panel discussions, tours, workshops and other events that expand upon and enrich viewer’s experience of art.

Find out more via hbrg.com.au

Butchulla Seasonal

Garden

Group Bookings and Education

HBRG welcomes group bookings from primary, secondary and tertiary class groups as well as community groups. Enquire via hbrg.com.au/visit-us or call 07 4197 4206.

Contact

Email:

regionalgallery@frasercoast.qld.gov.au

Phone: 07 4197 4206

website: hbrg.com.au Stay

/HerveyBayRegionalGallery @herveybayregionalgallery

up to date

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Girra: Fraser Coast National Art Prize is a new biennial prize that seeks to explore our reciprocal, inextricable relationship with the environment through contemporary art.