The arts have done it tough in the past few years, but 2022 reignited everyone’s love of creativity, with events, showcases, exhibitions and more happening around the Goulburn Valley.
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Here are some of the highlights.
$1.4m boost for arts in tough times hailed
Shepparton’s arts community secured Victorian Government funding for the new year with grants awarded to Kaiela Arts and Shepparton Arts Festival in January.
Kaiela Arts was awarded a Creative Enterprise Grant of $1 million plus a COVID-19 recovery payment of $44,000, while Shepparton Arts Festival was granted $400,000.
The payments are set to provide ongoing support to the organisations over the next four years.
Screen dream comes true
Shepparton’s Albanian community members told their stories of diaspora in the documentary Australia My Home: An Albanian Migration, which was recognised on an international scale.
The film won several awards and was showcased at international film festivals, as well as being screened at Shepparton Village Cinemas on March 2.
Documentary producer and Shepparton Albanian Moslem Society president Reg Qemal said it felt amazing to tell the stories of the city’s Albanian community.
“The message really was that it’s the next generation that needs to keep the culture continuing on because if they don’t, it’ll be lost,” he said.
Mr Qemal hopes the film will help Shepparton residents better understand the diverse Albanian culture.
Shepparton Music Week
The Shepparton region’s first collaborative music week was under way from March 7 to 16, with workshops and live music events for musicians, music lovers and industry.
The week started with an in-conversation between Brady Jones (Bricky B) and Neil Morris (DRMNGNOW) discussing the increasing participation of First Nations people within contemporary music.
Scheduled the following day was an artist development intensive session, headed by creative mentor Syrene Favero and award-winning photographer Lilah Benetti.
Mid-week saw Groovin the Moo festival booker Richard Moffat and Euroa Music Festival organiser Adam Palmer leading an industry discussion on festivals.
The Push All-Ages tour on the Friday night was a highlight with Aprilis, Vince the Kid, Mistykid, Kaiit and Kian bringing their sweet sounds to Victoria Park Lake.
Saturday’s event included a workshop with young musician Isaiah Firebrace, followed by a free live music performance from an incredible line-up of local Yorta Yorta artists.
Shepparton Music Week successfully showcased local artists and enabled a network to grow between musicians and industry professionals.
Debut exhibition for six-year-old Milo
Milo Rose took the title of City of Greater Shepparton’s youngest artist with his first ever exhibition at just six years old.
As part of the Shepparton Festival, Milo was at the Shepparton City Central Target Arcade on April 2 and 3 to take visitors on a tour of his art.
The young creative used a range of mediums in his work from oil and acrylic paints, to sculptures and printworks.
50 years of NAIDOC Week posters
In celebration of NAIDOC Week in 2022, 50 framed posters from previous years could be found in Wellways Shepparton office in Wyndham St during the first week of July.
This year’s theme, ‘Get up! Stand up! Show up!’, encouraged systematic change, represented through a bold print.
Wellways Shepparton reconciliation action planning committee chair Paul Dann said the collection, beginning in 1972, celebrated the culture and achievements of First Nations peoples, while also acknowledging the nation’s history and injustices.
“Each poster has its own significance for different people, but even the older ones still hold themes of today,” he said.
“Some of the older ones have very powerful language.”
Shepparton Festival
Shepparton Festival celebrated its 26th year, establishing the event as one of Victoria’s longest running arts festivals.
The two-week program, under the theme ‘Thrive’, ran from March 18 to April 3, packed with a variety of creative works.
The unveiling of digital landscape UNEARTHED, live music from Shepparton Festival Choir and Shepparton Brass, and plenty of food was enjoyed to begin the festivities.
A highlight for festival-goers was Mulana Garra by Neil Morris, known for the music project DRMNGNOW.
It featured an immersive, multi-sensory experience intertwining the power of storytelling through hip-hop poetry, Yorta Yorta language and ethereal soundscapes.
Local artists collaborated for a collective exhibition of upcycling used skateboards, while ‘Watercolour and Wine’ was a guided botanical art workshop with wine and platters provided.
New member of the Moooving Art Herd
September saw the release of a new cow on the block as part of Shepparton Moooving Art’s ever-changing exhibition.
‘Moobird’ was unveiled at the front of the Shepparton Visitor Centre at the Shepparton Art Museum, with plans to move the cow to the Shepparton botanic gardens.
Artist Mandy Charquero deemed the environment fitting, as the botanic gardens served as a source of inspiration for the design.
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