PAST EXHIBITION – GULGONG THEN & NOW
In celebration of the 150th year of the arrival of Henry Beaufoy Merlin and Charles Bayliss to Gulgong and their photographic contribution to Gulgong’s rich gold rush history.
Photographer Henry Beaufoy Merlin and his assistant Charles Bayliss arrived in Gulgong in the winter of 1872 and now 151 years on we celebrate their work. ‘Gulgong Then & Now’ features the colourised transition photographs by Christopher Dingle. Although this exhibition is not current it is possible to view the photographs on request and to purchase merchandise with transition images.
CURRENT EXHIBITION
Peter Solness – Holtermann Projections, Hill End
Henry Beaufoy Merlin impersonator (Peter Solness) and assistant, Charles Bayliss (Jane Collins) participated in the 2023 Henry Lawson Heritage Festival this year.
It was Henry Beaufoy Merlin who took most of the earlier landscape views in the Holtermann Collection and who, over an incredible ten years between 1863 and 1873, transformed himself from a theatrical showman into a landscape photographer, acknowledged by his contemporaries as one of the most important in Australia.
Peter is a multi-award winning photographer, artist, educator and writer who specialises in the photographic method of Light Painting.
Our museum is hosting an exhibition of photographs by award-winning photographer Peter Solness. The exhibition features a series of works Peter created in Hill End featuring photographs from the Holtermann Collection.
To create these works Peter set out night after night with a projector powered by a car battery, camera, tripod and torch, projecting images from the collection onto a range of sites in the town. Some of the projections relate directly to the locations themselves whilst others are chosen for their artistic value.
The Hill End Projection work exhibited in the theatrette of our museum, shares the contemporary use of Hill End images from the Holtermann Collection.
At night a moving projection walking tour featuring Holtermann photos taken in Gulgong during 1872 was conducted by Peter. This one-off night event was a great success and feature photographs taken during the Goldrush era of Gulgong.
The exhibition of Holtermann Projection series at Hill End was launched on Saturday 10 June and is now on exhibit in the Museum theatrette.
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