24 February 2020

Open Weekend 2020 Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 March, 11am-5pm

Minna Gilligan, Miss you Miss California Miss World Miss Universe 2020, acrylic and collage on found image, Courtesy the artist and Daine Singer

Make your mark at TarraWarra Museum of Art's Open Weekend on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 March 2020, with two days of free Museum entry, a major installation by artist Minna Gilligan, a free printmaking tote bag workshop with artist Bronwyn Ward, live music from Suneden and Carissa Nyalu, landscape sketching, food trucks, pop-up tours and more! Open Weekend 2020 is inspired by our latest exhibition Making Her Mark: Selected Works from the Collection, a new appraisal of the work of leading women artists held in the collection of TarraWarra Museum of Art. Melbourne artist Minna Gilligan will transform the Museum grounds with her site-specific installation Six Flags, commissioned for Open Weekend 2020. Drawing on the idea of flags as

24 February 2020

symbols of unity, strength and community, the work takes the form of six full-height flagpoles flying large-scale, fabric flags based on a new series of collage works by Gilligan. While traditionally flags have roots in war, conquest and masculinity, each flag is representative not of a colonialised country or a masculine, bloody victory, but of the opposite—a quiet, self-reflective moment in the life of a woman. As Gilligan says, “My collage-based works usually present a lone woman protagonist, frozen in a type of mise en scène. Each tableau tells a story of the subject—a story that is a cobbled together from my own autobiographic experiences and plain fiction. A woman occupied by a culmination of many emotions on the spectrum—like sadness or loneliness, or occasionally by pure exclamation mark joy (!), sexuality or conceit.” Six Flags is accompanied by a zine publication that puts the visual narratives featured on each flag into words. The free publication can be collected by visitors over the weekend, and is designed to be referred to whilst walking the grounds of TarraWarra and viewing Six Flags.

Carissa Nyalu. Photo: Myaree Iluka Suneden Open Weekend 2020 program highlights: > Six Flags, a major site-specific installation by Melbourne-based artist Minna Gilligan, accompanied by a free zine publication. Join us for flag raising and lowering ceremonies at the start and conclusion of Open Weekend! > FREE drop-by printmaking workshop especially for children and families. Join local artist Bronwyn Ward to design and print your own personal slogan on a tote bag that you can use and wear with pride! > FREE live music from soul, funk and blues duo Suneden and Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung singer/songwriter Carissa Nyalu > FREE landscape sketching workshops > FREE entry to Making Her Mark: Selected Works from the Collection, a TarraWarra collection exhibition featuring Kate Beynon, Angela Brennan, Melinda Harper, Louise Hearman, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Joanna Lamb, Hilarie Mais, Jenny Watson and Judy Watson, among others

24 February 2020

> FREE exhibition tours with Making Her Mark curator and Museum Director Victoria Lynn > plus food and drinks from Digging for Fire BBQ, Van Di Vino, Oliver Vintage Coffee Van and TarraWarra Estate, or bring along a picnic! “We’re encouraging visitors of all ages to come and make their mark at Open Weekend 2020, with a vibrant program that celebrates strong voices and individuality, through the prism of our latest exhibition Making Her Mark: Selected Works from the Collection. Open Weekend is the perfect way for the local community and beyond to experience the Museum and its stunning grounds,” said Victoria Lynn, Director, TarraWarra Museum of Art. First held in 2015 in partnership with Yarra Ranges Council, Open Weekend is a free, family-friendly event on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 March 2020 from 11am-5pm. All are welcome, all weekend; no bookings required! TarraWarra Museum of Art is located in the Yarra Valley, one hour north east of Melbourne, at 313 Healesville-Yarra Glen Road, Healesville VIC 3777. For full program details visit twma.com.au or see the Facebook event at https://www.facebook.com/events/193481185197409/. ENDS For interviews, images and further information please contact: Katrina Raymond | 03 9663 3222 | 0417 303 158 | katrina@medialinkproductions.com Elisabeth Alexander | 03 5957 3101 | 0404 934 779 | elisabeth@twma.com.au TarraWarra Museum of Art, 313 Healesville-Yarra Glen Road, Healesville VIC 3777 T +61 (0)3 5957 3100 W twma.com.au Opening Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am to 5pm. Open all public holidays except Christmas Day. Open 7 days a week from Boxing Day to Australia Day. PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY