30 Apr 2009

Australian Families

Twenty museums have come together to display the multiplicity of possibilities that lie at the heart of the most intimate of relationships - the family. The Australian Family exhibitions serve as a timely reminder of the astonishing variety of Australian families, past and present.

In a unique enterprise, fourteen metropolitan and six regional museums have each selected an aspect of the Australian family which fits within their charter or reflects their region.

Families are displayed here in their ceremonies and their continuities, in their collaborations and sometimes their conflicts, as they stand together and as they stand apart. People will come to remember, to share their stories and to relish the telling.. of family lives we comprehend, perhaps even family lives we can now hardly imagine

Dr Mark Peel The Australian Family Scribe Publications, 1998.

This on-line exhibition allows the content of these exhibitions to be accessible past the time of the physical exhibition.

Ararat Gallery
Resourceful: An Australian Ethos
Using recycled materials, artists represent the ethic of resourcefulness and its relation to rural family life.

Australian Racing Museum
Histories and Hopes: Families in Racing
A multimedia celebration of the bonds of blood and shared experience that mark some of Australias great racing families.

Chinese Museum
Dreams of Jade and Gold: Chinese Families in Australias History
Celebrates the extraordinary contributions of Chinese people and their descendants to Australias history.

Como Historic House and Garden
A Victorian Family: the Armytages of Como
The history of this family and the families who worked for them provides insight into almost a century of life on a large estate.

Dromkeen Childrens Literature Collection
Picture Book Families
Illustrates changing depictions of family roles and structures, using picture books as a source of information on social values, attitudes, and change.

Gippsland Art Gallery - Sale
Village Family
A project by photographer Sophie Webb, that redefines popular definitions of family by documenting relationships within families and communities.

Gold Museum, Ballarat
Missing You
The FitzGerald Postcard Collection demonstrates how the images and messages on postcards were used for family communication for over 100 years.

Hamilton Art Gallery
People in Place - Images of Western Victorians
Photographer John Kiely documents the changing face of the Western District through images of its families and community.

Italian Historical Society - CO.AS.IT.
La Dote: Preparing for a Family
Examines the dowry as an important element in kinship relationships, providing the material foundation for the establishment of a new family.

Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre
Regeneration
Through the story of three generations affected by the Holocaust, this exhibition illustrates the importance of family in creating a sense of security, identity and renewed hopes and aspirations.

Jewish Museum of Australia
Circles and Cycles: the Australian Jewish Family
An exhibition exploring the role and nature of, and challenges to, the Jewish family in Australia at the end of the 20th century.

Koorie Heritage Trust Inc.
Yakupna: the Koorie Family
Describes the internal continuity of Koorie family life in the face of external change. Many Koorie family traditions remain intact although in a reinterpreted form.

Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
Backyards and Boundaries: It is the garden that delights most! 1840 - 1930
Exhibition examines representations of the Australian family, domestic, social, economic, and gender relations, and the garden as cultural metaphor.

Old Melbourne Gaol
Felon Families: Stories of Women Prisoners
Examines the lives of women prisoners, the problems they encountered and their separation by distance from the support and friendship of families.

Old Treasury
Golden Years: Family Life at the Old Treasury
The fascinating story of the Maynard family; how eight children lived and played in the basement of Old Treasury, 1916 - 1928.

Performing Arts Museum
Kindred Spirits - The Performing Arts Family
Whether bonded by blood or shared experience, family strongly underpins the foundations of the performing arts industry.

Rippon Lea Estate
Solid Joys and Lasting Treasure
Contrasts the lives of two prosperous families at Rippon Lea during the 19th and 20th centuries; and looks at the gardens history as family vision, childhood pleasure ground and a place of entertainment and repose.

Royal Historical Society of Victoria
In the Eye of the Camera: The Victorian Family in 150 years of Photography
Past generations of Victorian families speak to us through photographs selected from the Images Collection of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.

VicHealth Access Gallery National Gallery of Victoria
SNAP - Family Portrait
Contemporary family photographs explore the diversity of families in Australia and challenge current notions of family values and stereotypes.

Victorian Folklife Association Inc.
Relatively Speaking: the Family in Words and Photographs by Ponch Hawkes
Twenty eight family portraits, accompanied by oral histories, make up this exhibition which opens our eyes to the many different types of families in our community.

Related links

Enquiries

Name:
Geoff Barker
Position:
Online Producer
Tel:
+61 (2) 9217 0347
Email:
enquiries@collectionsaustralia.net
Webpage:
www.collectionsaustralia.net
CAN Partners!

BECOME A CAN PARTNER

Express your interest,
in joining CAN

EMAIL CAN Exhibition space at MAC

Mundaring Arts Centre's 2012 Exhibition Programme

As part of our committment to supporting artists and developing our community, we feature regular exhibitions throughout the year.

Our Main Gallery provides an intimate contemporary space presenting...

 Read More