Exhibition Opening | Hervey Bay School of Displacement and Michael Cook: Livin' the Dream

Join the artists and contributors for the official opening of two exhibitions, 'Hervey Bay School of Displacement' and Michael Cook's 'Livin' the Dream'

You're invited to experience two new exhibitions at HBRG which address the regional housing crisis and broader narratives about the elusive 'Australian dream'.

In response to the housing crisis that faces the Fraser Coast and many communities around Australia, HBRG presents Hervey Bay School of Displacement, developed with renowned artist Keg de Souza. An iterative, socially engaged and site-specific exhibition project, the School of Displacement series has been staged previously in Redfern, North Melbourne and Newcastle.

Presented in partnership with the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre, visitors are invited to tune into the many experiences and perspectives of members of our community and to use this discursive space to share stories, connect and build resilience together. 

Presented alongside is Hervey Bay-raised artist Michael Cook's Livin' the Dream. Michael Cook interrogates the legacy of colonisation by remixing, inverting and reconstructing icons of Australian identity. Theatrically staged and highly polished, Cook’s photographic artworks tease out the fictitious possibilities of familiar narratives, combining the personal with the political and the historical with the imaginary.

Drawing on a recent gift to the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery Art Collection, works from Cook’s series Livin’ the Dream (2020) will be displayed alongside a new body of work, Fake (2022). Considered together, these works offer a timely reflection on the alienating absurdity of consumer desire and the 'Australian dream'.

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Image: Redfern School of Displacement, 2016. Installation view: 20th Biennale of Sydney. Photo: Document Photography.