By JESSE GRAHAM
DISGUISES, deception and revelations will be just some of the themes explored when one of the largest art events in the valley opens next weekend at TarraWarra Museum of Art (TWMA).
The TarraWarra Biennial, Whisper in My Mask, will open on Saturday 16 August with a performance of a special play, beginning at 11.30am.
Weavings and Whispers: Miwi Wisdom is a one-act play, created by Diane Bell for the biennial and performed by the Ngarrindjeri Weavers, to mark the beginning of the exhibition.
After an audience discussion of the play, exhibiting artists, including Soren Dahlgaard, Fiona Foley and Polixeni Papapetrou will discuss their artworks and their development with visitors over the afternoon.
The artworks at the biennial explore the theme of masking – the purpose of the mask, the ways in which it reveals and conceals, protects, beautifies and expresses ideas.
Artists were hand-picked by curators, Djon Mundine OAM and Natalie King, with over 20 Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists working in a variety of mediums chosen.
TWMA director Victoria Lynn said the exhibition explored deeper themes, through visual and sensory works, and embraced the idea of community.
“This year’s biennial features both timely political gestures about the masking of history, as well as a more mysterious interest in hidden personas, ghosts and telepathy,” she said.
“…The exhibition also embraces a broad sense of community that encompasses not only the local Yarra Valley, but also the significant Indigenous communities across Australia.”
A number of events will be held throughout the course of the biennial, including a number of performances and talks on 19 October with various artists and Ms King and a poetry reading.
The opening of the biennial next weekend is timed to coincide with the Melbourne Art fair, which runs from 13-17 August at the Royal Exhibition Building.
For more information, visit www.twma.com.au, call 5957 3100 or visit the museum at 311 Healesville-Yarra Glen Road, Healesville.
