Community
20 June, 2024
Tragedy inspires Mortlake’s Best in Show
THE winner of the 2024 Mortlake Art Show’s Best in Show award is excited for the “groundswell of enthusiasm” as artists across the south west share their work with the wider community.
Terang’s Jo Kenna said she was “shocked, surprised and in disbelief” to be named Best in Show at the recent Mortlake Art Show for her work ‘Last flight of the mutton birds’.
She said the piece had been inspired by the “tragic story” of the mass deaths of short-tailed shearwaters, also known as mutton birds, during torrential rain and heavy winds at Peterborough in November 2022.
Mrs Kenna had friends visiting from Melbourne to enjoy the Noorat Show who were using her family holiday house at Peterborough as accommodation was booked out in Terang and Noorat.
“They invited my husband and I to join them for dinner at the Peterborough pub, and on the way down the weather was horrendous,” she said.
“There was rain, lighting, thunder and wind – my husband turned to me and said we were mad for travelling and should have stayed at home.
“During the lovely social night out we had, we were blissfully unaware of the tragedy unfolding at the beach.
“These mutton birds had flown over 15,000 kilometres as part of their migration, and exhausted and buffeted by the elements they couldn’t even land – so they fell in to the sea, and the next morning their bodies were discovered in the water.”
Mrs Kenna said the death of the hundreds of birds had been felt in the Peterborough community, and wanting to raise awareness for the rare phenomena had directly inspired her work.
“Months later when I was walking on the beach with my grandchildren we were constantly finding feathers and bones,” she said.
“We put them in to a rough old mobile.
“To me it spoke volumes of what had happened to the mutton birds, and reflected the horror of the natural disaster.”
Mrs Kenna said having opportunities to locally display art, such as through the Mortlake Art Show, allowed south west residents to embrace their creativity and utilise a platform to tell stories bigger than the artist themselves.
“It’s a privilege and it’s why I did the work – I wanted to get the story of the mutton birds out there because their migration every year, almost to the date, is something that is remarkable and credible,” she said.
“It’s such a testament to their endurance but this time they had perished, which makes it all the more poignant.
“But everyone who entered are all winners because we all get our works shown off and with Cassie’s (Ellis, Mortlake Art Show convenor) expert curating, the way she puts the shows together, the whole exhibition flows and enhances everyone’s work.”
As Western District Newspapers reported last week, Ms Ellis said the 2024 Mortlake Art Show had been among the most successful yet.
It included an increase in the pieces on display, the addition of photography for the first time, and strong community sponsorship from Origin Energy backing the show as major sponsor to Mac’s Hotel donating door prizes.Mrs Kenna said the event had proven a “social delight”.
In addition to the growth of the Mortlake Show, initiatives such as the Terang Artists Gallery and ongoing displays at the Camperdown Courthouse have heightened opportunities for artists to get their art out there to communities which revel in celebrating local creations.
“I think it’s a really exciting development,” Mrs Kenna said.
“There is a lovely groundswell of enthusiasm, and it’s lovely to be part of it.”
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