By Jed Lanyon
As the doors of the TarraWarra Museum of Art remain shut due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the museum has decided to bring their next exhibition online through a new virtual experience.
Making Her Mark features selected works of female artists from the collection and was intended to celebrate International Women’s Day across March prior to the museum’s closure.
Museum goers will now have the opportunity to view the exhibition through a new virtual experience, which allows visitors to view the artworks of the latest exhibition.
Virtual visitors can select where they wish to start their tour as they view the floorplan of the museum, before viewing the artwork on display in each room in a similar fashion to Google Maps’ Street View.
“We thought it would give people the opportunity to give people the space to enjoy art without having to visit, while still generating inspiration and inspiring creativity in the community,” said exhibition curator and museum director, Victoria Lynn.
Viewers are able to click on works and hear soundbites from Ms Lynn, who provides an audio guide to the artwork.
Ms Lynn said that a lot of work had to be done to create the multimedia experience.
“It’s almost like I had to write a catalogue essay for the exhibition. It was quite a lot of work but we really wanted to stay in touch with our audience.”
Ms Lynn explained what viewers can expect when they jump online to view Making Her Mark.
“I wanted to show women artists not as a category but as a catalyst for exploration. There are three themes that arise from artists in the collection: Memory, landscape and abstraction. The exhibition content ranges across several decades of modern and contemporary Australian art.”
In the form of unexpected pairings, the exhibition shows the ways in which women artists have pioneered certain ways of seeing the world. Making Her Mark provides the opportunity to make new comparisons across decades: Jenny Watson and Charles Blackman; Louise Hearman and Godfrey Miller; Kate Beynon and Howard Arkley.
Rather than a dialogue about precedent and influence, the exhibition presents a nuanced conversation about image, composition and mark-making where women take centre-stage.
While TarraWarra Museum of Art is new to the world of virtual tours, Ms Lynn explains that the feature could be implemented permanently going forward as people look for entertainment post-pandemic.
“While we will have all the protocols in place for a safe trip to the museum when we reopen, we’d like to keep going with an online engagement for those who are vulnerable in the community and for those who live in other cities around Australia and the world.”
To view the exhibition, visit https://www.twma.com.au.
