Barrel run into Mid North Coast surfing culture
Published on 20 September 2024
City of Coffs Harbour’s exceptional art gallery and museum has been making waves in its first 12 months and the next major exhibition will be a deep dive into local surf culture.
Swell Chasers: Surf Stories from the Mid North Coast will open at Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM) on Saturday 23 November and the community can get involved right now.
“We want to hear from people with surfing memorabilia. They may not be surfers themselves, but have a love of surfing,” City of Coffs Harbour City Planning and Communities Acting Director Ian Fitzgibbon said.
“Who knows what might surface – someone might have an old Sandman panel van in a shed or a surfing themed pinball machine from yesteryear.
“We want everyone who wants to be involved to be involved in some way.”
People with interesting surfing history from Port Macquarie to Ballina should email yam@chcc.nsw.gov.au and include a description and a photo of their item.
Swell Chasers will occupy three galleries at YAM, while a solo exhibition by the Sydney-based artist Mulga (Joel Moore) in gallery 4 will complete the white-hot summer line-up.
“There is still plenty of time to catch our spring exhibitions headlined by Modern Guru, Serendipia, Electric Dreams and Desert Jungle which are free entry and showing through to 10 November,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
“Modern Guru is internationally acclaimed and it is the first time it’s been presented in Australia. We will be progressing from the innovative spring shows to a summer line-up which embraces who we are through the evolution of surf culture.
“Swell Chasers will include a timeline of boards, photography, film and the important local stories from board shapers through to Gumbaynggirr surfers.”
The sum of the exhibition’s parts will be enriched if the community shoutout for memorabilia unearths some hidden gems.
Swell Chasers will be a free exhibition and will be on show through to 2 February 2025.
Photo: Swell Chasers: Surf Stories from the Mid North Coast will open at Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM) on Saturday 23 November. Image: Brandt Mackney, Last Light, 2022, digital photograph, courtesy of the artist.
Brandt Mackney Last Light.