Beechworth residents or those with a Beechworth connection are being asked to pose for a photo for an exhibtion contrasting the historical faces of the town and its modern day community as part of a project to build resilience after bushfires and COVID-19.
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Burke museum manager Cameron Auty said community members could come into the museum on Friday or Saturday between 10am and 3pm to have their picture taken for the 'Let's Make History' exhibition, which was funded by a Federal Government bushfire recovery grant.
"It's been a pretty tough couple of years for everybody and one of the things we can do as museum is to show the strength of the community, and the diversity and resilience of the community, in a way that lots of other institutions can't," he said.
"We're intimately linked to the history of the place and if we allow the modern community to see how they're linked to their own history, it helps us to build a sense of place."
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The exhibition, which will launch on April 16, will feature photos and in-depth accounts of 10 Beechworth residents, while the photographs of the other participating community members will cycle through on a wall projection.
Mr Auty said the project's aim was to compare and contrast the people of modern and historic Beechworth.
"What we want to talk about here is how the modern day community reflects some of those [historic] stories and show the real diversity of the modern community, and how they've come together to show resilience in the face of first the bushfires and now the pandemic," he said.
"We'd love to get as many faces as we can."
Photographer and museum collection manager Ashleigh Giffney moved to the district three years ago and said she had been impressed with the resilience of the community.
"They rally together and they help each other out in any way possible and it's been really special to observe this and record this as well," she said.
"The one thing I'm finding quite interesting is the interest people have in being part of this exhibition and being part of the collection, I think it's got a lot of interest in the town and people really want to stand up and be part of history."
People really want to stand up and be part of history
- Ashleigh Giffney
Ms Giffney said people would be able to see themselves in the portraits of others.
"That's a real special connection that you can make to a complete stranger," she said.
"You'll see part of yourself in one person and part of yourself in another person in a way that brings a sense of unity and connection, especially through these trying times when we all feel a bit disconnected and lonely.
"It brings connection, I think it fosters a sense of security in the community as well."
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