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Photographer to explain her exhibition on rural showsQueensland photographer Jo Grant will give a free talk about her exciting new exhibition of photographs at the Latrobe Regional Gallery on Saturday 8 April at 12 noon. By Latrobe City Council - 28th March 2006 - Back to News Ms Grant will explain her exhibition ‘All Prize Winners Paraded’, which is currently featuring at the gallery.
Latrobe Regional Gallery director, Louise Tegart, said ‘All Prize Winners Paraded’ is a documentation of rural shows in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
"The work in the exhibition is an exploration of agricultural shows, events that have survived despite societal shifts that have seen many small regional centres de-populated and starved of resources," Ms Tegart explained.
Jo Grant was brought up in a very small town in country Victoria but her desire to document these annual events is motivated by more than simple sentiment or the wish to produce 'objective' historical documents.
The work is an attempt to use the rural shows as a way of examining broader issues about an Australian cultural identity. Jo Grant has concentrated on small details in an effort to create a narrative that is based on her experience but also allows space for viewers to create their own. The series of works showcase the finer points of events such as animal competitions, art shows, craft and food displays. She was particularly drawn to the displays and activities created by the women of rural communities.
Ms Grant said that when she was four, her mother entered her sister and herself in the ‘Miss Showgirl’ competition at the local agricultural show.
"This was a big event – in our very best dresses, we walked up the steps to the back of a truck in an attempt to win a prize for poise and geniality," Ms Grant revealed.
"Mum claims that she subjected us to this because she was under pressure from Grandma who wanted to show us off. This may well be true, but I suspect there was more to it. My grandmother belonged to a generation that fervently valued these kinds of events because they were important symbols of community identity. These values are still present in subtle rituals that continue today despite the changing world we live in," Ms Grant said.
"Eventually, when I was nineteen, I moved away from the small country town I grew up in, because, despite many generations of family ties, I never really felt that I belonged. As the years passed my feelings started to change and I began to miss aspects of the culture that I had left behind.
"This project is an attempt to explore the ambiguity of my memories. It is a photographic documentation of rural shows that focuses on the small, supposedly insignificant gestures of custom and tradition that are crucial to the construction of these events and the quiet persistence of culture that they represent," Ms Grant concluded.
‘All Prize Winners Paraded’ continues at the Latrobe Regional Gallery until 14 May.
The Latrobe Regional Gallery is located at 138 Commercial Road, Morwell, and is open Monday to Friday 10am-5pm, and on weekends 11am–4pm. The gallery is closed public holidays. For further information about exhibitions at the gallery, please telephone 5128 5700. Entry is free.
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com
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