In a world where the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upheaval and uncertainty, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery has managed to bring together four new exhibitions for the community to enjoy.
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The launch of the Summer Season exhibitions at the Royal Park Art Gallery unveiled Nest, Herself, Skin, and Lost Landscapes.
Nest has been created around the work of Alastair Mooney and reflects the resilience of Tasmania's birdlife while faced with human destruction.
Lost Landscapes by Anne Zahalka takes dioramas from museums and situates them in a contemporary space. The work raises unsettling truths about ethical and environmental issues.
Skin: Garry Greenwood celebrates the 40 years worth of leather works by Greenwood. The pieces celebrate his time in music, art and dance.
Herself showcases work by female-identifying artists between 1820 and 2020. It celebrates the richness of art by women but also adds to global conversations on the diversity of artists represented in museums.
General manager of creative arts and cultural services, Tracy Puklowski, said the exhibitions were a perfect way to wrap up the uncertain and difficult year with a sense of "freshness and newness and celebration".
"One of the unanticipated silver linings of having to be closed for three months to the public this year was that it gave people the opportunity to do the deep dive into the collection," she said.
"I think if it wasn't for that, some of the exhibitions, Herself in particular, would possibly look quite different."
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Ms Puklowski said the exhibitions mark a big change for QVMAG as the collections become much more contemporary and start more conversations.
"A lot of the themes in these exhibitions are not just local...but they are part of national stories and part of international stories," she said.
Senior curator for visual art and design Ashleigh Whatling said two of the exhibitions were from solo artists and the other two were created from the QVMAG collection.
"QVMAG's collection is enormous and really something that the state that can be proud of."
Ms Whatling said the solo exhibitions, Nest and Lost Landscapes, will be on display until November next year so "visitors have a chance to really hang out with these works".
Lost Landscapes artist Zahalka said it would be lovely to have an audience to view her work again.
The two other shows upstairs will be semi-permanent, with their stay estimated until 2022.
"They're so rich. There's a lot of stories to pull out of there that we hope that people will come and become really familiar with," she said.
The senior curator said she hoped people will visit several times and see something different or learn something new each time.