Event details
Celebrate the launch of the 2026 Town Hall Gallery program and the official opening of 4 exciting new exhibitions:
- Major exhibition: ‘Familial’
- Community exhibitions ‘Echo and Resonance’ by Chelsey Liu and ‘Precious Fibres’ by Maryam Ebtekar and Michelle Trewin
- Creative Playground installation: ‘Wall of Magic Creatures’ by Kate Beynon
Join us on Saturday 14 February at Hawthorn Arts Centre. Formalities will begin at 2:30 pm in the foyer, followed by curator and artist talks, creative demonstrations and family-friendly activities.
Enjoy live music from acoustic duo Breathaways featuring of Xani Kolac (violin, vocals) and Cristian Barbieri (guitar).
Free event but registrations are encouraged.
Light catering provided and refreshments available for purchase.
About the exhibitions
Familial
‘Familial’ brings together 6 artists from around the world whose work navigates the emotional and psychological terrain of family — of parents and children, of unbreakable bonds, tenderness and the enduring ache of absence. Presented by the Centre for Contemporary Photography, this exhibition explores the complexity of familial connections through presence and loss, in a meditation on love and longing and the essential imprints our closest relationships leave behind.
Accessible and simple in its approach, ‘Familial’ allows us to see sons and daughters photographing parents, and inversely, parents photographing their children, sometimes slowly over decades and sometimes with urgency. To photograph another person is to know them differently, to see them afresh; and to see the images made by a parent or an offspring is to see the world anew, through their eyes.
Featuring: Taysir Batniji, EJ Hassan, Nur Aishah Kenton, Mariela Sancari, Abigail Varney and Annie Wang.
Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP) is supported by Spicers Australia, Hahnemuhle, HCPro, Colour Factory and Final Grade.
Echo and Resonance by Chelsey Liu
Chelsey Liu invites viewers to step into her energetic and dynamic world of colour, texture and form.
Liu’s artistic practice explores the creative possibilities of Abstract Expressionism. By allowing instinct and impulse to influence every brushstroke, each painting becomes a representation of thoughts and feelings too hard to explain through words alone.
Through spontaneous gestures, Liu reflects on her cultural identity, personal experiences and observations of daily life in Boroondara. By doing so, she examines broader themes of connection, memory, and the diversity of cultural experiences present in her community.
‘Echo and Resonance’ provides a contemplative space for viewers to reflect on their own lived experiences.
Precious Fibres by Maryam Ebtekar and Michelle Trewin
Transformative and thought-provoking, Maryam Ebtekar and Michelle Trewin reimagine common household litter into artworks meaningful, beautiful and enduring.
Ebtekar challenges perceptions of craft, value and consumption through creating sculptural and wearable works from recycled paper pulp. Celebrating her Iranian heritage, Ebtekar draws inspiration from the intricate, ornamental tile patterns of Persian Architecture, reinterpreting these forms in a contemporary, eco-conscious context.
Using household materials such as dryer lint and thread, Trewin captures the rich textures of rocks, grasses and natural landscapes. Trewin’s purposeful combination of medium and subject invites reflection on the impact of everyday lifestyle choices on our environment.
‘Precious Fibres’ channels the transformative potential of art to inspire connection, community and care for the world around us.
Wall of Magic Creatures by Kate Beynon
Become immersed in a magical world of colourful mask spirits and auspicious symbols!
Known for exploring portraits and storytelling through painting, textiles and animation, Kate Beynon invites gallery visitors to interact with a constantly transforming wall of fantastic figures in the Creative Playground at Hawthorn Arts Centre.
Inspired by supernatural tales and the Lunar zodiac, the ‘Wall of Magic Creatures’ encourages imaginative design and playful connection. Select from a range of symbolic tactile elements to form your Lunar animal or go wild collaborating on wonderful hybrid creatures with family, friends and community. Participate in self and guided sessions, or just spend time lounging in a soft-sculptural ‘Dreamspace’ with surrounding animation created in collaboration with Beynon’s family collective, TudoFAM.