After the recent lockdown pushed the original opening for Orange Regional Museum’s new exhibition Cleverman from July 24th to now, visitors can immerse themselves in the specifically designed exhibit exploring the making of the TV drama series of the same name.

Being pioneered by ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image), who developed and has been exhibiting various versions of Cleverman around the country, bringing an exciting variety of materials and interactive platforms for the Orange community to enjoy.

Exploring First Nations storytelling, language, and creativity in production design, costumes, and props, this free exhibition invites you to listen first and immerse yourself in a powerful and contemporary expression of origin stories.

Orange City Life was lucky enough to get a personalised tour of the new exhibit by Museum Manager Mary-Elizabeth Andrews who said:

“It’s about immersing yourself into the story, in the world of Cleverman and learning the behind the scenes on the television production and what inspired it all.”

“It’s interesting because the exhibition is accessible to both people who are fans of the television series and people who haven’t seen the show – visitors will get a lot out of Cleverman.”  

ACMI Director and CEO Katrina Sedgwick OAM said ACMI has been curating and touring exhibitions across Australia for the past decade, celebrating extraordinary Australian screen practice and practitioners.

“The ground-breaking series Cleverman presents Dreaming stories in a stunningly designed sci-fi near-future, laced with political themes that ring true today,” Ms. Sedgwick said.

“We jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with series creator Ryan Griffen to create an exhibition that takes people behind the scenes to explore the storytelling and superb screen craft that delivered this remarkable Indigenous Australian TV series.”

“This is a really good mix of a physical exhibition with the props, costumes, illustrations, and designs to the digital interactive platforms on offer for visitors to delved right into the content and be immersed. It’s a really great diverse experience,” says Mary-Elizabeth.

One of the main highlights of the exhibit is the interactive screening platform that allows visitors to play segments from the TV show, interact with data and information about the characters and the scenes they’ve selected to play on screen.

“It’s quite impressive, the aesthetic of the interactive is inspired from the TV show, it’s really engaging for people,” Orange Regional Museum Manager said.

“It’s important for visitors who are interested in experiencing the exhibit is to allow enough time to explore the different aspects, materials, and interactives that are on display.”

Cleverman will be on display for free at Orange Regional Museum until October 24th.