Xuzhou: Friendship, Cooperation and Understanding
Exhibited 23 January - 6 April 2018
This exhibition displayed items from the City of Greater Dandenong’s Xuzhou Cultural Collection. This collection contains Pizhou farmers’ folk art paintings of provincial scenes, which depict themes of abundance and good fortune. They also reflect hard work and the simple pleasures of rural life.
The Xuzhou Cultural Collection also includes Chinese paper-cut artworks. Paper-cut artwork is a popular art form that is typically created by rural women, with the tradition passed from mother to daughter over a long period of time. The art form was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.
Public programs included a free lecture with City ambassadors who discussed their learnings from their delegations to Xuzhou.
The exhibition was held at Laurel Lodge, from 23 January - 6 April 2018.
Teatime: An Exploration of the Australian Suburban Past Time
Exhibited 23 January - 6 April 2018
This exhibition explored the origins and history of afternoon tea, with focus on the shifting trends and attitudes pertaining to the past time. Lesser seen objects from Council's heritage and cultural collection were on display, including textiles, tea related items, and oral histories.
Programs included an afternoon tea event held in collaboration with Noble Park Country Women’s Association (CWA) where guests were invited to share heirloom recipes. A free public lecture was undertaken by Council’s Registrar, who presented her fascinating collection of tea caddys.
The exhibition was on display 23 January - 6 April 2018, at Benga in the Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens.
Fashion and Style in Dandenong in the 1950s and 1960s
Exhibited 2016
This display explored changes in clothing, accessories and dressmaking during an important time in Dandenong’s development. In the 1950s and 1960s – as Dandenong changed from a market town to an industrial centre – shops, emporiums, and dressmakers brought fashion trends here from around the world.
Dorothy Hart was a fashionable member of Dandenong Society. She trained at Emily McPherson College where she learnt tailoring skills which she used to create these garments. The rich fabrics: embossed cotton and wool crepe were purchased at Clegs in Melbourne. Dorothy’s dressmaking ability meant that she was always smartly dressed in the latest fashion style.
The display presented items from the City of Greater Dandenong Civic and Cultural Heritage Collection, featuring items acquired from the Hart family, and was held in 2016 in Benga.
Childhood at Benga
Exhibited 2016
This exhibition showcased what childhood was like for Peter and Anne Hart, as they grew up in Benga.
Peter and Anne were the children of Dr. Ian Hart and Mrs Dorothy Hart, and they enjoyed their childhood in Benga during the late 1930s until the 1950s.
Their middle-class childhood was clean, neat and well dressed. Cherished childhood memories included happy family occasions and visiting relatives at ‘Roseneath.’
Peter was a boarder at Melbourne Grammar School, returning home on the weekends and Anne attended St Catherine’s School in Toorak.
This exhibition was on display in Benga in 2016.