A new display in Orange Regional Museum's local history exhibition Inherit: Old and new histories celebrates the ingenuity of Central West communities in the past.
The museum's long-term exhibition, Inherit explores our region's history through the stories and objects that shaped our past and present. The 'Making Do' display highlights the creativity and tenacity of everyday people as they made do with limited resources.
New objects on display include a wine press made by Slovenian refugee Gasper Jug in the 1950s from appliance parts salvaged from the Emmco factory and a Depression-era apron sewn from repurposed CSR Sugar sacks.
INGENUITY: The 'Making Do' section of Orange Regional Museum's long-term exhibition 'Inherit: Old and new histories'.
The display was made possible due to a $3000 grant from the Australian Government's Culture, Heritage and Arts Regional Tourism (CHART) program.
Orange City Council Services Policy Committee Chair, Councillor Mel McDonell said it made sense for the exhibition to evolve, just like our local history.
"Inherit just gets better and better as the team at Orange Regional Museum uncover more objects and stories that broaden our understanding of how our region became what it is today," Cr McDonell said.
"This new addition gives us an insight into the resourcefulness of our forebears, as people used their creativity to solve problems in their daily lives. I'm sure they would have something to teach us about the modern idea of reuse, reduce, recycle."
A planned series of workshops linking this ingenuity to ancient traditions and modern interests in sustainability and upcycling have been very popular and the first, Kintsugi for Beginners, is booked out.
The second workshop, Visible Mending, will be held on Saturday 18 June. Textile and visual artist Michele Elliot will guide participants through using simple hand-stitch techniques to patch and mend their work and loved garments. Discover creative ways to repair your clothes, breathe life back into your favourite garments and turn your handiwork into a feature, while keeping textiles out of landfill.
The workshop will also include an introduction to the new objects in Inherit: old and new histories.
Tickets are available from Eventbrite and bookings are essential. Orange Regional Museum is open daily 9am-4pm.
