Local creative talents are on full display as part of the stunning ‘This Time, Last Year’ – a multidisciplinary art exhibition, time capsule, celebration and memorial all rolled into one at Frankston Arts Centre and Cube 37.
Proudly supported by Frankston Council as part of its $7.038 million Relief and Recovery Package to help the community recover from the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, ‘This Time, Last Year’ enables patrons to take a step back to last year and explore the inspired vision of our community.
The opening event for ‘This Time, Last Year’ featured the launch of the community anthology, ‘Stories at the End of the Line’, on Friday 14 May.
Mayor Kris Bolam said, “Brimming with bold, heartfelt, thoughtful and inventive pieces, ‘Stories at the End of the Line’ captures a remarkable time we’ll never forget thanks to members of the community sharing stories about their time in isolation.
“Locals well and truly embraced this storytelling project with 143 submissions from writers aged 10 to 90 years sharing stories of love, loss, the mundane and the simple pleasures of family and friends.
“They were all written during the first lockdown and submitted by the end of May 2020 – prior to the further lockdowns and hardship that unfolded in the following months.
“This anthology features 75 pieces; we’re incredibly proud of all those who participated and shared their stories,” Mayor Bolam said.
Susan Chapman’s prose piece, ‘Beach Cleaner’, describes how casual walks during lockdown became a daily routine of searching for and removing rubbish from the foreshore.
Ms Chapman said: “Beach cleaning became an important part of my day. I’d go out with my gardening gloves, salad servers and large hat, and I’d be meeting people.”
“Being out in nature has been an important part of what we’re doing, and being able to write about it has been fun and something to share with people,” she said.
“Cathartic is a good word for it, because our time on the beach has really saved our sanity,”
Amy Newman’s piece for the anthology shares her experience of giving birth during lockdown and returning home to an environment where the normal post-birth supports were unavailable.
Ms Newman said: “I’ve always been a keen writer. I wanted a way to develop my writing skills when I had just had my baby and it was also an ideal way of connecting with the community.”
“I got a lot of enjoyment out of it. I was so thrilled to be a part of it,” Ms Newman said.
Councillor for North East Ward Suzette Tayler said ‘This Time, Last Year’ has something for everyone including captivating photographic exhibitions and fun ‘iso lounge’ activities for the young and the young at heart.
Cr Tayler added: “We’re so proud of our community; the resilience, compassion, unity, candid reflections and artistic brilliance all shine through. I encourage the community to engage with and experience everything ‘This Time, Last Year’ offers.”
‘This Time, Last Year’ features
‘This Time, Last Year’ featuresFrankston Arts Centre – Curved Wall Gallery
Until Saturday 26 June
‘All Dressed Up, Nowhere to Go’, Lisa Atkinson
Put on your stilettos and strut in style with Lisa Atkinson, through her works, All Dressed Up, Nowhere to Go. A photographic series capturing the moments of backyard and driveway joy, in dressing up and heading out in spite of the actual destination.
‘The Year We Stayed at Home’, Jenny Rusby
The Year We Stayed At Home is a heartfelt photographic series by Jenny Rusby. The works explore the simple beauty and importance of family and connection in a time of isolation.
Cube 37 Glass Cube
Until Saturday 26 June
The Iso Lounge
In 2020, we were asked to stay at home. In 2021, we’re asking people to come out and hang out in the Iso Lounge! An immersive installation the Glass Cube – the living lounge room will be screening Lockdown Film Festival entries, so pull up a chair and read the Anthology.
Until Saturday 10 July
‘A Series of Expeditions to Nowhere’
Projected in the Glass Cube Gallery after dark, ‘A Series of Expeditions to Nowhere’ highlights Beth Lane’s search of places to dance by taking an abstract lens to our local sites. Deep in lockdown, the daily routines suddenly seem extraordinary.
Ms Lane is a recipient of the Artist Grants, as part of the Council’s COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Package.
Until Saturday 10 July
The Iso Lounge Kids Takeover
Dust off the doilies, the kids are taking over! In collaboration between the Iso Lounge and Hot Arts for Cool Kids, the kids are taking over the Lounge Room to make and share their point of view. There’ll be fun things to make and see, particularly for the small ones in your family.
For more information about ‘This Time, Last Year’, including open hours, please visit www.thefac.com.au or phone 9784 1060.