Finale Celebration at the Henry Jones Art Hotel
The last week and a half at the Packing Room Gallery had a few bumps, but ultimately ended on a very positive note I think. We somewhat unexpectedly had to vacate the gallery for three whole days during the last week, due to functions, and this meant having to try and reschedule photo shoots and also meant that people weren't able to access the gallery in what was going to be our busiest week.
That being said, there were many positives, including a 4-page spread in the Tasmania Weekend Magazine on March 2, and a smaller article in The Hobart Mercury the day before. As a result, we saw a lot more people in the gallery in that last week and this lead to some interesting conversations with visitors, including one who had been on holiday to Kyrgyzstan ! There were also interesting conversations with people, and in some cases these are leading to new partnerships and new opportunities.
The prime example of this has been the offer by the State Library and Archives of Tasmania to use one of their spaces to exhibit and continue the photography for the next few months, but more of that later.
The final celebration really was a great event. Of course, not everyone could make it, but we still got a very good turnout of 80 or so people and it was really great to see the gallery full with such a diverse array of people appreciating our final display. It was also pleasing to see a couple of local politicians in attendance inluding Senator Nick McKim and MLCs Cassie O'Connor and Meg Webb, who all gave glowing feedback. It was a really positive atmosphere and so pleasing to see such a mix of people blend so well together, it was a really affirming moment in making me feel that this project has some value to the community. So many thanks to all those who attended and made it a special occasion.
Looking forward to a new phase and a new partnership
So what next for the project ?
A whole lot of possibilities have opened up as a result of the exhibition over the last month, though it's probably not appropriate to talk about all of them here.
Of course, one of the biggest priorities is to raise money to help us produce a book from all the stories and photos that we have collected. If you are interested in donating to this project, you can do so here :
Of course, in order to produce the book, we need to photograph more of the podcast participants. To date, we have done 52 of the 113 that I have interviewed for the podcast, so we have plenty more we would like to photograph, and there were certainly a number who were interested who didn't have the chance to make it down to Henry Jones.
Therefore, having the opportunity to spend 3 months at the Hobart Library will not only allow us to display the photos and stories for longer, but will give us the chance to expand the collection and give more people a chance to be a part of it. There are also certain key countries or migrant groups that are not currently represented. The partnership with the Library and State Archives of Tasmania is also proving to be quite a symbiotic one, with us both having similar aims and pulling in the same direction.
The exhibition is on Level 2 of the Hobart Library. The library is open from 9.30am to 6pm weekdays, and 9.30am to 2pm Saturdays, and 9.30am to 12.30pm Sundays. Please come and check it out ( if you haven't already).
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