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A Moment in Time Exhibition
1 April 2023 - 28 May 2023
A Moment in Time Exhibition
Augustus Earle’s (1793-1838) painting courtesy National Library captures the opportunity offered by the opening of the Central West of New South Wales. The road to the west, the allure of western pastures, the opportunity offered by new land.
‘A Moment in Time’ is an exhibition that captures the optimism of those early years of the Nineteenth Century before Queen Victoria came to the throne. Curated by retired historian Kanimbla Valley resident Joan Kent, ‘A Moment in Time’ as it’s name suggests, reflects on the moment of opportunity and of crisis that the initial crossing of the Blue Mountains by Europeans in 1813 represented. An opportunity for colonists long starved of new pasture on the coastal plain, a crisis for the Wiradjuri Nation an invasion of their country that had been their homeland for twenty thousand years or longer.
Joan Kent’s original curation of the exhibition and her publication of a book of the same name was the centre piece of the Hartley Community’s offering commemorating the 1813 ‘crossing’. The exhibition then went on to become one of the centrepieces in the City of Bathurst’s celebration of the bicentenary of Bathurst’s declaration as Australia’s first inland city in 1815. In a joint endeavour between the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, it will be installed at the National Park and Wildlife Service managed Hartley Historic site for the 2023 Australian Heritage Festival, as a fitting complement to the beautifully preserved Court House and set of Victorian buildings that make up the historic site. Whilst thousands have already visited the exhibition, the new venue will have extended opening hours that will provide access to a broad new community of heritage tourists.
What: A Moment in Time
Where: Corney’s Garage
Admission: Gold Coin Donation (accompanied children free)
Location: Hartley Historic Site
Getting there Located just off the Great Western Highway on the line
of Thomas Mitchells 1832 Road to Bathurst
Opening Hours: Saturday 1st April 2023 to Sunday 28th May – 10am – 1pm, 1.30pm – 4pm daily, closed Mondays
Complementary activities associated with this event will be separately promoted and details will be provided on the Hartley Historic Site website.
The Moment in Time exhibition Is a joint initiative of the National Trust and National Parks and Wildlife Service Supported
