Mudgee’s history closely examined through new artwork
Josh Yasserie (right) has been working with residency curator Nathan Sentance (left) on developing an artwork for Mudgee Museum, as part of the Orana Arts Heritage Artist Residency (HARd) program.
SHOWING NOW
An animated installation by Wiradjuri artist Josh Yasserie opened at the Mudgee Museum on Saturday 26 November. Titled Mudgee, the work resulted from a residency undertaken by Josh at the Mudgee Museum where he met and spoke with community members, volunteers and explored the voluminous (nearly 18,000 objects) collections and archives of the Museum.
Mudgee is a gentle but persistent animation of the deep roots of the land that Mudgee sits on, and the ongoing conversation residents and visitors continue to have about the history of the town.
Guest curator for the project, Nathan Sentence joined Josh at the opening and the pair discussed the way museums tell stories and how it must change. Citing museums as places of ‘stories not storage’, Nathan shared some of his experiences across a range of museums and how to introduce new voices and perspectives.
Josh explained his process in developing the work and how speaking with community fundamentally changed his ideas on what his work might look like and seek to do. The Mudgee Historical Society President, Barry Wells joined the conversation, giving insights into how the museum took on the challenge of working with Josh and what the next steps might be.
Mudgee was funded by the NSW government through Create NSW. It is an initiative of Orana Arts under its VAMP strategy for regional museums.
Exhibition open until 26 January 2023
Mudgee Museum open hours
10am - 2pm daily
Entrance fee to museum applies
Left to right: Andrew Glassop from Orana Arts, curator Nathan Sentance, artist Josh Yasserie, and Barry Wells form the Mudgee Historical Society
Photos from the opening of Mudgee at Mudgee Museum on 26 November (slideshow format)
MEDIA RELEASE: 22 November 2022
Sydney-based Wiradjuri artist and storyteller, Josh Yasserie is unveiling a new artwork at Mudgee Museum, developed over several months as part of an Orana Arts’ Heritage Artist Residency at the museum. It will open with an artist talk at 2pm on Saturday, 26 November.
Titled Mudgee, the work blends cartoon and video game imagery with Aboriginal stories and iconography, resulting in a multi-layered and playful work that invites the viewer to see pop culture with new eyes.
Orana Arts’ Partnerships and Engagement Manager, Andrew Glassop, says Yasserie has constantly sought to discover new ways to tell the story of his community and himself.
“He’s a lover of cartoons and popular culture, and it was not unexpected that he turned to animation and video to tell this story.
“Josh explores the deep bones of the country on which the Mudgee Museum sits, acknowledging that the story the museum tells is only a small fraction of the entire tale.”
Yasserie says of his work, “This is about putting the lens on who we are today in this thing called ‘Australia’.
“I want to flip the script from westernisation to Indiginisation/Wiradjuries, the observers experience and understanding. I also want to develop a culture of animation in Indigenous voices.”
Residency curator Nathan Sentance of the Powerhouse Museum sees museums as important places of tale-telling, and positions Josh’s work in this long tradition.
“How we remember the past is sometimes through artefacts or monuments, but it is mostly through stories and through connections; the connections we have to our Ancestors, to our towns, and to our histories.”
Mudgee is a project initiated through Orana Arts’ Volunteers. Artists. Museums. Program (VAMP) that seeks to work with museums, communities, and creatives to make engaging new works that introduce new ideas, new voices and new perspectives to regional museums.
The Heritage Artist Residency was funded by the NSW Government through Create NSW.
MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew Glassop, Orana Arts Partnerships and Engagement, 0400 014 342 or via email
The artwork title for Mudgee by Josh Yasserie
