Image: Lionel John Doyle, Stepping Out of Time, 1994, watercolour and acrylic, 75 x 57 cm. Courtesy of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection.
Image: Lionel John Doyle, Stepping Out of Time, 1994, watercolour and acrylic, 75 x 57 cm. Courtesy of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection.
Mayor's message
Art is an important contributor to engaged and connected communities.
Bundaberg Regional Council, through its galleries in Childers and Bundaberg, aims to support and uplift the arts community within our region.
In what is another first-class schedule of exhibitions and events, we aim to provide opportunities to showcase local artists but also to bring world-class exhibitions and artists into our region to further develop and inspire the arts community and give regional residents opportunities to experience art which they may otherwise have to travel a great distance to see.
I hope you enjoy this quarter’s exhibitions and events.
Mayor Jack Dempsey
Bundaberg Regional Council
A note from the Director
I recently had the honour of speaking at the National Australian Museums and Galleries Conference in Newcastle, NSW. The theme of this conference was ‘Discomfort’ and it was an opportunity for Arts Workers from across Australia to come together to speak about having brave conversations and making new connections in changing environments.
I facilitated the talk with Taribelang/Gooreng Gooreng artist, Dylan Sarra, about his journey as an artist and how his arts practice has made connections in the archaeology and science fields. We also spoke on the role of Galleries as a platform for conversations, whether with artists or community, and while sometimes these conversations could be uncomfortable, the Galleries provide an important space to share stories and listen to others’ voices.
When reflecting on the suite of exhibitions and events in the July to September period, I am proud that there are many opportunities for conversation, storytelling, and listening.
Kicking the exhibition schedule off with a guitar riff and some hardcore drum solos is Pub Rock - a touring exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery celebrating the heart of Australian 70s and 80s music. This is accompanied by wonderful exhibitions by Chloe Smith and Jay Feather. Both have exhibited previously at the Gallery as part of group exhibitions, and are now bringing their distinctive style to bear in Gallery Two and The Vault.
In September, we open a very special exhibition, Wajgan’s Return, featuring the work of proud Gooreng Gooreng/ Munumjali artist, Ron Hurley and curated by his daughter, Angelina.
I look forward to welcoming you to our spaces over the next few months!
Rebecca McDuff
Gallery Director
Exhibitions + Events
Pub Rock
8 July - 27 August
Touring exhibition by the National Portrait Gallery
Location: Gallery One, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
Opening event: Friday 7 July | 5.30 pm
Pub Rock celebrates the people, places, scenes and sounds defining 1970s and 1980s Australia.
Drawn primarily from the Gallery’s collection and enriched with works by leading Australian music photographers including Tony Mott and Wendy McDougall, Pub Rock will feature staged portraits and publicity shots alongside images captured during unguarded moments and the grungy energy of live performances.
Image: Angus Young,AC/DC, LA, 1978 by Rennie Ellis Collection: National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.
Ticketed Events
Rock On!
When: Saturday 8 July | 6 - 9 pm
Tickets: $60 pp (includes drink on arrival)
Dress in your finest 80s getup and be transported back to the 80s with live band and pub food in Gallery one!
OZ Rock Trivia
When: Friday 25 August | 5.30 pm
Tickets: $15 pp (includes light refreshments)
Think you know your Hoodoo Gurus from your Skyhooks? Think again, when the National Portrait Gallery’s Pub Rock exhibition closes out with an epic evening of 70s and 80s Oz Rock trivia.
This exhibition is supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.
Something Kind of Wonderful
8 July - 27 August
Jay Feather
Location: The Vault, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
Opening event: Friday 7 July | 5.30 pm
Artist talk: Saturday 8 July | 10 am
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle" - Albert Einstein.
Well known for her expressive and colourful works, artist Jay Feather, draws on her memories of Bundaberg and innate sense of fun, to transform The Vault into a place of wonder and joy for everyone to explore.
“To be amazed and in awe of life is to feel fully alive and present in the moment. Too much of our lives is taken up with mundane, beige tasks. Something Kind of Wonderful is the complete opposite of this.”
Since moving with her family to Brisbane in early 2023, Jay’s arts career has gone from strength to strength, with her most recent exhibition held at Revival Art and Design Gallery. After the success of her large-scale mural for the Bloom exhibition in 2022, Bundaberg Regional Galleries are excited to welcome Jay back for Something Kind of Wonderful.
Image: Jay Feather, Rainbow Beach (detail), 2020, oil, acrylic, enamel 150 x 100 cm.
Trying to Enjoy
the Fruits of My Labour
8 July - 20 August
Chloe Smith
Location: Gallery Two, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
Opening event: Friday 7 July | 5.30 pm
Trying to Enjoy the Fruits of my Labour is a solo exhibition by multi-disciplinary artist Chloe Smith.
Working primarily in textiles - under her pseudonym ‘I Make Soft Food’ - Chloe first exhibited with Bundaberg Regional Galleries in 2021 as part of the group exhibition Savour.
This new exhibition features her latest hyperreal representations of food, inviting viewers into an illusory game where the line between the real and the fake becomes blurred to the point of ridiculousness. In both subject and material, Chloe’s sculptures push the storytelling boundaries of the textile tradition, favouring play, silliness, exploration and absurdity in a world that seeks ever increasing seriousness and rigidity.
Trying to Enjoy the Fruits of My Labour represents a pivoting away from pure representation to a place where perhaps the territory no longer precedes the map and playing with your food is strongly encouraged.
Image: Chloe Smith, Thong Katsu, 2023, wool, embroidery thread, plastic plate, armature wire.
Message in a Bottle
1 April - 27 August
Community Art Installation
We are not alone at being alone
Location: Imaginarts, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
Message in a Bottle is a public invitation to participate and share ideas.
During the Bundaberg Regional Galleries large-scale installation, you are invited to contribute and engage with the work by creating a message in a bottle, expressing everything from fears, concerns, feelings, notes to self, messages to loved ones; anything you want to share, get off your chest or words you simply want to play with.
Ultimately, the purpose of this installation is to hold up a mirror to our loneliness and longing.
Today, maybe more than ever, we need these powerful reminders that we all have more in common than we think. The power of a message in a bottle is that it captures our anxiety about loneliness, our longing for love, our fear of being lost or forgotten, and that which is most precious and unique to each of us.
Image: Message in a Bottle, Community Art Installation, Imaginarts Space, 2023.
Childers Festival:
A Retrospective
14 July - 17 September
Bundaberg Regional Galleries Curated
Location: Childers Arts Space, Churchill Street
Chillout Zone: Sunday 30 July | From 10 am
Childers Festival: A Retrospective tells the story of the Childers Festival from its inception in 1996 through to present day.
With modest beginnings as a food and wine festival under the then Isis Shire Council, the festival has grown significantly and now attracts a crowd of over 40,000 people during its four day program.
Encompassing photographs, anecdotes, memorabilia and publications, Childers Festival: A Retrospective captures the stories behind this successful annual event and provides insight into how it has influenced the arts and cultural landscape of the region.
Image: Childers Festival Letters, painted by St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, 2016.
Ticketed Event
Up Late @Childers Arts Space
When: Thursday 27 July | 5 pm
Tickets: $10 pp (includes canapes and drink on arrival)
In this opening event and private guided tour, guests will learn about the exhibition and the festival’s history while enjoying canapes and a glass of wine.
Wajgan’s Return
2 September - 12 November
Ron Hurley, curated by Angelina Hurley
Location: Gallery One, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
Opening event: Friday 1 September | 5.30 pm
Curator talk: Saturday 2 September | 10 am
Wajgan’s Return celebrates the work of Ron Hurley (1946 - 2002). A Gooreng Gooreng/Mununjali man, the exhibition takes place in the country of his matrilineal ancestry from the Bundaberg and Gladstone regions. Curated by his daughter, Angelina Hurley, the retrospective exhibition is the first mixed-media presentation of Ron’s work on country. Wajgan’s Return pays respect to and celebrates the totems and stories of the Gooreng Gooreng people, including ‘Gnyala’ the Owl and his personal totem ‘Wajgan’ the Willy Wag Tail.
Ron Hurley is recognised as one of the first Aboriginal artists to successfully mix First Nations and Western Art, and was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from the Qld College of Art, with a Bachelor of Visual Arts, in 1975. His arts practice crosses different media, such as painting, individual and public sculptures, ceramics, photography, printmaking and jewellery. His work, based on political and historical figures, recognised the plight of First Nations People in urban society, and he was a strong advocate for the artistic, cultural, and human rights of First Nations communities.
Wajgan’s Return will feature artworks from the Hurley Family Collection, as well as works from the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection and the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum.
Image: Ron Hurley, George Johnson, 1989, oil & gold leaf on canvas, 121 x 166cm. Courtesy of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection.
manjalba ngulkurrijin minday
2 September - 12 November
Ivy Minniecon
Location: The Vault, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
Opening event: Friday 1 September | 5.30 pm
Artist talk: Saturday 2 September | 10 am
Ivy Minniecon is a proud Kuku Yalanji, Kabi Kabi, Gooreng Gooreng and South Sea Islander artist currently completing her Honours Degree at Griffith University, Qld College of Art. In this, her first exhibition with Bundaberg Regional Galleries, she responds to the artwork of Uncle Ron Hurley, a man whose arts practice and story have been interwoven with her own.
Incorporating her practice of weaving balji (bags) and printmaking, Ivy transforms The Vault into a space that reflects her own strengthening of identity and connection to Country, while paying tribute to the ground breaking work of Ron Hurley, in breaking down barriers for First Nations people.
Ivy’s work has recently been seen in Hatched: National Graduate Show 2023, at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, and she was the recipient of the 2022 Iain Turnbull Memorial Award, Qld College of Art, for her outstanding engagement with printmaking and print culture.
Image: Ivy Minniecon, Hatched: National Graduate Show 2023. Photographer: Andrew Willis.
Sacrifice
2 September - 5 November
William Debois
Location: Gallery Two, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
Opening event: Friday 1 September | 5.30 pm
Artist talk: Saturday 2 September | 10 am
Sacrifice is an exhibition of portrait photography and oral histories by artist, William Debois. Debois a photographer of French origin, based in Gladstone, and with a career spanning 25 years across four countries.
Sacrifice reflects the universal notions of sacrifice, be it big or small, life-affirming or limiting, tragic or slightly trivial. The images in the exhibition have been captured by Debois over a period of three years, as he has travelled ‘road-trip’ style, listened to and captured the visual and oral representations of people he has met along the way.
Thanks to the support of a Regional Arts Development Fund grant, William has been able to undertake a residency in Bundaberg to connect with the local South Sea Islander community and include photographs and stories taken during this residency into the exhibition, giving it additional resonance within our region.
Image: William Debois, from the series Sacrifice, Giclée fine art print on art paper, 1/10 edition, 51 x 51 cm.
Art Walk
Join Gallery Director, Rebecca McDuff, as she leads the monthly art walk and provides ‘behind the scenes’ anecdotes about the exhibitions and the artworks. This is a lively and informative way to enjoy the Gallery for art lovers with all levels of knowledge, and concludes with morning tea utilising the Galleries’ vintage teacup collection.
Wednesday 26 July
Pub Rock – National Portrait Gallery
10 am – 11 am
Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
1 Barolin Street
Wednesday 27 September
Sacrifice – William Debois
10 am – 11 am
Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
1 Barolin Street
Thursday 28 September
Nature’s Therapy – Carmel Birchley, Maggie Spenceley, Colleen Helmore
10 am – 11 am
Childers Arts Space
72 Churchill Street
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Childers Arts Space
72 Churchill Street
Mon to Fri 9am – 4pm
Sat and Sun 9am – 3pm
Free entry – all welcome!
Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
1 Barolin Street
Mon to Fri 9.30am – 5pm
Sat and Sun 10am – 2pm
Free entry – all welcome!
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