Coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions didn't stop more than 50,000 people visiting the Bendigo Art Gallery's Mary Quant exhibition.
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Gallery director Jessica Bridgfoot said staff were thrilled with the turn out that included an increase in the number of regional Victorians that visited.
She said about 40 per cent of the tickets sold for the Mary Quant exhibition went to people from regional Victoria.
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"Ticketed events (at the gallery) usually see 80 per cent of people coming from Melbourne," Ms Bridgfoot said. "This time it was closer to 50 per cent, which is a very big difference.
"We were really heartened to see that support from our regional visitors. We had a good, strong contingency from Bendigo as well but the statistics from regional Victoria were healthy and higher than ever.
"It shows people were travelling around the state and exploring places they have never explored before. Hopefully some of them come back again. We were thrilled at the turn out."
In total 51,500 people visited the Mary Quant exhibition while it was on between March 20 and July 11.
Ms Bridgfoot said the number was above what the gallery had projected.
"We had budgeted the exhibition before COVID hit," she said. "So we had a non-COVID year projection at the more conservative end.
"We exceeded our target (which pre-dated COVID) by 25 per cent. This exhibition performed really well, as we hoped it would.
"Anecdotally, local businesses reportedly were doing very well out of Mary Quant. Certainly, the audience interested in it were seeking broader experiences beyond the gallery. You could see View Street humming with people.
"A lot of businesses also got on board with Mary Quant. We were thrilled to deliver an exhibition like that during that time."
Ms Bridgfoot said there was also a sense of relief to deliver the Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary exhibition given Australia and Victoria's travel restrictions.
"We were working with the Victoria and Albert Museum (in London), it was our fifth exhibition with them," she said. "They usually send a crew over and we have conservators and curators working with us but this was the first time working virtually with them and they were still keen to work with us.
"It's nice knowing we have still got that relationship and level of trust to allow us to install and handle their objects without them. Now that we have done that, we know we can deliver international programs despite being unable to leave the country.
"We are hoping to bring another international show at the same time next year."
The different way of working and installing an international exhibition gives Ms Bridgfoot and her team confidence in continuing to plan exhibitions that come from overseas.
"It was a very different way of working for everybody with the rolling lockdowns around Europe, the US and the UK," she said. "It gives collections the opportunity to continue to be seen on the global circuit.
"The V&A will continue to produce exhibitions that will travel and we want to work with them and other institutions or organisations with new collections."
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