BENDIGO Art Gallery will reopen in just days, after significant easing of COVID-19 restrictions across Victoria.
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The gallery's first exhibition Piinpi will showcase contemporary Indigenous textiles and fashion. The exhibition has been postponed since July by the COVID-19 crisis.
Art Gallery director Jessica Bridgfoot said she was thrilled to re-open the gallery's doors to launch Piinpi.
Ms Bridgfoot voiced frustration in September at other facilities re-opening ahead of galleries, saying arts and culture was a major contributor to community recover.
Galleries were allowed to open from 11.50pm Sunday November 8.
Ms Bridgfoot said Piinpi marked a significant moment in Australia's cultural history.
"We have an established history of presenting International fashion exhibitions at Bendigo Art Gallery, and for over a decade we had been celebrating, importing and telling stories from other cultures," she said.
"I am so excited to shine a light on a significant cultural fashion movement blossoming here in Australia.
"[It's] a design movement that is Indigenous led, industrious, innovative and has the potential to redefine the way the world engages with Indigenous Australian culture and history ... through fashion."
Kanntju woman and First Nations curator Shonae Hobson said Indigenous fashion put Indigenous voices at the centre of a global agenda.
Highlights of the exhibition include a possum skin cloak made by Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta elder Rodney Carter.
Free exhibition Piinpi will be on display at the Bendigo Art Gallery until January 17. Afterwards it will be launched at the National Museum of Australia.
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