ELIZABETH POOLE | JIM FILMER | GRACIE-DAWN LEWIS | NAOMI MCKENZIE | JIM MCKENZIE | NOELA LOWIEN | SANDI HOOK | SUSAN MCCONNEL | JAN GODFREY
Historically agricultural shows have served as arenas through which communities can celebrate and reflect upon the relationships between people, food and place.
If you visit an agricultural show, you might see pastoralists wash, brush and parade their stock, farmers display their crops, cooks try to win ‘best preserves’, and retailers demonstrate new tractors. There are rodeos and show jumping, art and craft competitions, petting zoos for children, and carnivals with show bags, sweet treats and bright lights.
Through these activities, agricultural shows conserve the traditional values of European pastoralists. Though they have historically been major social events for regional towns, as our local communities become more socially and culturally inclusive – alongside our changing relationships to food and production – the agricultural show’s contemporary relevance must be considered.
The Show is an exhibition of artworks by local artists from the Somerset region that capture the agricultural shows held in the region’s larger townships of Lowood, Esk, Toogoolawah and Kilcoy. The artists have been tasked with creatively documenting each of the shows, with the exhibition prompting us as viewers to reflect upon our personal associations with local shows, the role of nostalgia in the preservation of traditional values, and possible futures for regional community building.
IMAGE: GRACIE-DAWN LEWIS, 2024.