A spread of local artists were set to feature in the major exhibition at Everywhen Artspace in Flinders when the pandemic forced the Mornington Peninsula gallery to shut its doors.
But sorrow quickly turned to joy when the gallery stepped in to save the day, creating an online catalogue and filming virtual tours of the exhibition.
So art-lovers across the state can still get a taste of the Shepparton indigenous community's significant artistic talent through their phone or computer screen.
“Everywhen Artspace has represented Aboriginal art centres and artists for many years,” Kaiela Arts manager Angie Russi said.
“It was going to be a milestone exhibition for us, so we were absolutely gutted when coronavirus came along.
“Then we started talking to the owners of the gallery about moving it online. We weren't sure at first whether it would be successful.
“But we've been absolutely thrilled with how it's come together. Nothing replaces the physical, but it's still brilliant.”
The exhibition is named Biyala Bala Kaiela (Red Gum River).
Each work responds to the vegetation that grows along the Kaiela Dungala (Goulburn Murray) river system.
As many indigenous plant species no longer grow along the rivers due to agricultural practices, the exhibition aims to "bring them back to life" through art.
“So it's both a celebration and a lament,” Ms Russi said.
Everywhen Artspace has taken the time to meticulously hang each piece in the gallery, even though people can't currently see the artworks in person.
Susan McCulloch, who co-directs the gallery with her daughter Emily McCulloch, has also filmed herself walking through the gallery, giving a curatorial talk about the exhibition.
“There have definitely been some pluses about moving this online,” Ms Russi said.
“If the curatorial talk was in person as usual, you could easily miss out. But as it's online, people can watch it any time.”
The gallery has also assembled a sleek online catalogue, featuring details about the exhibition and biographies of individual artists.
“It's just beautiful, it's like you're flicking through real pages,” Ms Russi said.
● To view the catalogue and videos of the curator's floor talks, head to kaielaarts.org.au/events/biyala-bala-kaiela and follow the links.
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