For 100 years Canberra families have measured the growth of our city in stories told around the kitchen table. An exhibition inspired by Canberra stories will showcase local artists. Your funding will help us produce a catalogue for the exhibition.

I am: Emily Casey, exhibitions and promotions coordinator at M16 Artpsace in Canberra. I am curating The Kitchen Table, an exhibition of new work by local artists that explore the growth and development of Canberra through its local stories and traditions

I aim: to curate an exhibition that inspires community engagement through promoting local culture and artistic practise. The funds from this Pozible campaign will be used to pay for the production of a catalogue for the exhibition.

The exhibition: will be held from 28 March to 14 April 2013, including the first weekend of the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival, at M16 Artspace in Griffith, Canberra.

The Kitchen Table is a project that invites local artists across all media to create works of art for exhibition to explore the growth and development of Canberra through its local stories and traditions.

A personal reflection:
When my grandmother was born at the Causeway in 1928 Canberra had a population of 7,000, there were big open paddocks separating impressive buildings, which Canberra would grow into. Two generations later, Canberra has outgrown many of these buildings and has expanded to a population of over 300,000. The building of Canberra from a small country town to a metropolitan city can be recorded in many ways – achievements of government, economic growth, etc. This exhibition looks at the ways families have built their homes here and in doing so established family traditions that have built a culture that is unique to Canberra.
In my family, one tradition is picnics at the Cotter River. My grandmother and her friends used to pay for a lift out to the cotter on the back of a truck, before the days of seat belts. My parents were piled along with many other bodies into the back of a Holden for family picnics at the Cotter. I was taken as a child by my parents now as it emerges from the bushfires of 2003 we are returning.


Each work of art in The Kitchen Table exhibition will explore a story that contributes to the culture of Canberra and the building of Canberra and its community.

We have collected local stories and histories of the region. The artists are making new work based on these stories. The work will be exhibited at M16 Artspace. The Canberra community will be invited into the gallery to experience the exhibition and share their own stories through opportunities including gallery visits and special events such as floortalks.

If your business or organisation is interested in sponsoring the exhibition, please contact me at [email protected]