Meet the People on the MENTAL Exhibition Curatorial Panel: Mitch Mahoney
Mitch Mahoney is a Boon Wurrung artist with connections to Barkinji through his dad’s side. He is an assistant collections curator at Melbourne Museum, an artist specialising in the revitalisation of South-Eastern Aboriginal practices, and is currently creating a public workshop with Footscray Community Arts Centre. His passion lies in teaching the public about his culture and Victoria’s rich Indigenous history. Mitch is currently living on his traditional lands in Melbourne, Australia and currently serves on the curatorial panel for our upcoming exhibition, MENTAL: Head Inside.
I have a love/hate relationship with being on the curatorial panel for MENTAL: Head Inside. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been really great… but it’s truly been challenging to transition from being an artist to stepping into a decision-making role.
I first got involved with Science Gallery as an artist in the DISPOSABLE pop-up a couple of years ago. Back then I was approaching it from the side I’m used to, as an artist pitching an idea. I know how much effort goes into applying to be part of a show. I was an artist-in-residence with my aunty, Maree Clarke, where we built a ten-metre eel trap out of river reeds that explored Indigenous aquaculture technology and the effect that we have on our waterways. Developing that work during my residency took me across the world to visit two other Science Galleries, in Dublin and London, to connect with artists and scientists at those locations.
The MENTAL curatorial panel was the first time I found myself on the other side of exhibition-making and I found it really hard to shift my thinking as to how the show should come together, what it should look like, and who’s going to be involved, and especially when it came to selecting the works to be in the show. That was the worst. If it were up to just me, I would have put all the works considered on display.
While I found that process of judging other people’s work really confronting, I really loved that part as well. Seeing all the applications, the variety of works that were there, the breadth of directions the theme was taken in by proposals. The other people on the panel are from such drastically different lives, with different experiences and in different stages of life, even though most of us are of similar age. This was perfect because if we were all the same, we’d probably end up making bad single-minded decisions.
Discussions between the panel, on what works should and shouldn't go into the show, were some of the most enjoyable moments of the whole process. To hear different people’s perspectives and the number of ideas that were exchanged from such a diverse group, was the best.
And really, what a topic to be talking about now. We started this process pre-COVID. Remember then? We were wanting to deliver something that would contribute to the conversation about the importance of being able to speak about mental health in different ways. What it would mean for a society to be able to actively contemplate and speak more openly about these kinds of things. And then suddenly we all became exponentially more aware of our emotions, isolations, things that were important to us, once they were gone.
I loved the conversations and ideas that came out of the works. These conversations made stepping over to the other side worth it for me. They expanded the way I view mental health and well-being.
Stay tuned for more in our series of Q&A with the people involved in MENTAL’s Curatorial Panel.