New exhibition: Views and Vistas of the Valley
Drawn from the permanent collection of Moonee Valley City Council (MVCC), Views and Vistas of the Valley presents a compelling visual conversation of place, history, community and perceptions.
Sourced from Moonee Valley’s public collection, the exhibition captures the ever-evolving nature of the city’s character; the architecture, landscape, people, and places that make up the unique matrix of our community.
On display now at the Incinerator Gallery in Aberfeldie, Views and Vistas of the Valley balances a careful dialogue between past and present; recent photographs from David Wadelton that capture the iconic Maribyrnong Bowls Club sit alongside schematic drawings of the Essendon Incinerator building itself, produced by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin in 1929.
These historic and contemporary perspectives continue throughout the space, with the exhibition also including several representations of the Maribyrnong River, captured in 1895 by John Thallon as a quiet transport river for livestock, and again by Marlene Young in 1999 through an abstract lens that mourns the violence of colonial occupation and the loss of Indigenous connection to Country.
The dialogue between past and present is a key underpinning of the exhibition, prompting visitors to consider Moonee Valley as a site of continual negotiation between preservation, progress and representation.
Robert Hoddle’s works titled Maines Station, 1847 and Maines Bridge, 1847, were painted just twelve years after Melbourne was established as a city. These works offer a rare record of the Moonee Ponds Creek area before the profound environmental and urban transformations that accompanied the gold rush.
The works depict the creek as a natural ‘chain of ponds’, meandering through open grasslands and lightly wooded plains that had been carefully managed by the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people through Indigenous cultural land management practices. Best known as the surveyor responsible for Melbourne’s iconic Hoddle Grid, Robert Hoddle (1974-1881) played a pivotal role in shaping the colony’s early urban development and also produced watercolours to document the landscape.
As the oldest works in the Moonee Valley City Council collection, these two paintings provide an important visual record of Victorian landscape during the period of rapid colonial occupation.
Deputy Mayor of Moonee Valley, Councillor Phil Burn, invited residents to view the art collection and gain an insight into the evolution of their community.
“It shows how the Moonee Valley that we know today was shaped through the inheritance of the heritage of the former councils, and more recent acquisitions,” Cr Burn said.
“Audiences are invited to come along and consider the ways art can identify a place’s culture – from its histories, transformations and everyday resonance.
“This exhibition also pays tribute to other donations to the collection, especially from community service organisations like the RSL and Rotary Club. We are grateful that this collection has been preserved as a vital insight to the local memory.”
The exhibition was largely shaped through donations and collections acquired through the merging of the City of Essendon and parts of City of Keilor to create what we now know as the City of Moonee Valley. The collection has also expanded in recent years through considered public art commissions.
Views and Vistas of the Valley is on display until 31 October and anyone keen for a unique experience, should come along to Thursday Late on 3 September – an exclusive adults-only showing of the gallery after hours. Curator Mia Maria will share her perspective of the exhibition that explores Moonee Valley’s history, with guests invited enjoy a drink and nibbles, and some accompanying live music. Free entry but bookings are recommended.
Exhibiting artists include:
Beattie Malcolm, Bruce Fairless, Brian McGuffie, Cathy Drummond, Dacre Smith, David Wadelton, Ellen F. Nihill, Fiona Hiscock, Geoff Hogg, Godwin Bradbeer, Graeme Wallis, Gregory R. Smith, S. Handley, Heja Jung (Chong), Herbert Falvy, John Gollings, John Hunt, John Kodric, John Thallon, Jon Campbell, Judith Perrey, Kirsty Darlaston, Lloyd Shield, Ludmilla Meilerts, Maree Clarke, Marion Mahony, Malcolm Beattie, Marlene Young, Paul Hogarty, Robert Hoddle, Robin Dawson, Ron Cousins, Shane McGuffie, Stephen Pleban, Tony Constantino, Walter Burley Griffin, William Stanfield and Yumemi Hiraki.
ENDS
Media enquiries
Mobile: 0447 198 653 | Email: media@mvcc.vic.gov.au