ALPINE Shire community members are being asked to share their experiences of the Ovens River as part of a special art project being worked on by ex-local Happy Valley artist Clare McCracken.
Clare, together with Heather Hesterman, will be putting their collaborative art project on display at the Wangaratta Art Gallery in September.
The exhibit will tease out the complex political, social, cultural, economic, and ecological history of the Ovens River and what it means to the local community.
Through documentation of performative fieldwork, creative writing, and participatory practice, ‘Wild Country’ explores the historical, cultural, and social importance of the Ovens River and its tributaries.
Clare and Heather are calling on community members to send in letters about the Ovens River, which will form part of the exhibition; this can be anonymous or signed.
The pair are seeking people's recollections, family holidays, fishing, swimming, rafting, picnicking etc, and any thoughts or, memories or history about the river.
Given the regional river towns' diverse and rich histories, the artists want as many locals as possible to participate in the project.
Clare said the idea for the exhibit came out of the lockdowns when she was stuck in Melbourne missing home.
“I grew up in North East Victoria and when I was missing home I found myself on google maps looking at the area through satellite view," she said.
“I entertained myself through lockdown by falling into deep research into the history of the Ovens River and I realised even though I am physically very familiar with the area there was all these histories which I was completely unfamiliar with.
“We acknowledge that there is this huge national narrative with all of these significant histories of indigenous heritage and care for Country, goldmining, cattle farming, tobacco and hops but the river means so many extraordinary things to the little communities along it.
“We have been approaching community members and we have received amazing letters and it got us very excited about the other stories we might be missing.
“We got a great response from Myrtleford Primary School and we would love to hear from more community members.
“People can be creative, we’re asking for a letter and that can be an aspiration for the river, a forgotten history, a memory, a drawing or photograph, I don’ want to restrict peoples’ creativity."
To submit a letter, email clare.mccracken@rmit.edu.au.
