Orange Regional Museum is set to celebrate a significant chapter in the city's cultural history with the opening of its latest exhibition, ASSEMBLE: Orange Festival of Arts 1965-1987, on 11 April 2025.
The exhibition will explore the history and impact of the Orange Festival of Arts, a biennial event that ran from 1965 to 1987.
Originally spearheaded by local drama enthusiast Eileen Watts MBE, the festival aimed to bring the best of Sydney's city culture to regional Australia, while fostering local artistic development.
Exhibition curator Sally MacLennan said that over the years, the festival grew to involve hundreds of volunteers, performers, artists and students across various art forms, including theatre, music, visual arts, and public performances.
"The Orange Festival of Arts was instrumental in shaping the cultural landscape of Orange. It began as a way to introduce 'city' culture to the country but evolved into a platform for local arts and community involvement. The festival fostered a sense of creative community that still resonates today," she said.
Mr Television in front of the gasworks mural, 1977. Photograph by John Kich.
Gift of John Kich, Orange Regional Museum collection.
Orange Deputy Mayor and Recreation and Cultural Policy Committee Chair Cr Tammy Greenhalgh said the festival was a transformative event for our city.
"It brought together people from all walks of life to experience the best of the arts. This exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the festival's lasting impact and the cultural vibrancy it helped create in our community," Cr Greenhalgh said.
The exhibition will feature newly collected oral histories, historic photographs, posters, and memorabilia from the Museum's own archives as well as the Orange Festival of Arts collection, held by Orange City Library.
Highlights include a piece of the 1977 gas works mural by David Humphries and rare images from Mike Mullins' controversial Invasion of No-One project from 1985.
"One section of the exhibition is about how the Festival of Arts continues to impact Orange today, including how it played a pivotal role in seeing the Civic Theatre and the art gallery built. And, by extension, the entire development of the cultural precinct as it is today," Ms MacLennan said.
Betty Seers and Anne Ingham prepare paintings for display in the art exhibition at Amoco Hall, March 1967. Image courtesy Orange & District Historical Society, CWD Negative Collection.
Opening event:
Orange Regional Museum on 11 April 2025
Doors opening at 6 pm for a 6:15 pm start
Light refreshments will be provided
