The response to our current exhibition '40 Years 40 Works', celebrating Orange Regional Gallery’s 40th anniversary, has been extremely positive. Locals and visitors to the region have enjoyed looking at the diverse range of art selected by the public from our permanent collection and reading the individual statements about why those works were chosen.

One artwork on display for the first time in ten years is Frank Hinder’s ‘Barongarook (Running Water)’ which he made in 1967 and donated to the gallery in 1986. This work, described as a ‘luminal kinetic’, consists of a lightbox construction with moving parts and coloured lights behind a diffusion screen.

Frank Hinder (1906-1992) produced a series of these luminal kinetics in the 1960s — sculptural compositions made of aluminium, plywood, perspex, plastics, lighting and motorised parts. Once in motion, the effect of ‘Barongarook’ is mesmerising and reminiscent of light glinting off gently moving water, particularly as the water pools and eddies.

This artwork was nominated for the exhibition by local artist David Serisier. It is a standout piece for Serisier as he also selected it for the 30th anniversary exhibition 'Call + Response' and made a new work in reply. The two artworks were displayed together.

As the work had not been on display for so long, some collection care was required. Collections Manager Emilie Patteson and Gallery Technician John Daly retrieved the artwork from storage for inspection prior to display. They carefully removed the perspex diffusion panel to allow for gentle cleaning. They also re-oiled the mechanical components with sewing machine oil and replaced the old incandescent light bulbs with safer and more efficient LEDs.

In the collection archive there were detailed instructions from Hinder on how to dismantle the sculpture for access and to update and replace electrical parts as required.

To prolong the life of the artwork, we installed a push button to activate the work while on display. This allows for several minutes of light and movement before resting again. The button is especially fun for kids to carefully press!

The exhibition will run until November 15.

The gallery is open daily from 10am to 4pm and entry is always FREE.