Shimmer - The Silo Project

Castlemaine State Festival
The Mill, 9 Walker Street, Castlemaine
March 22 - 31 2019
Ballarat International Foto Biennale
August 24 - October 20 2019
Mitchell Harris Wines Barrelroom
38 Doveton Street North, Ballarat
Curated by: Emma Busowsky Cox, independent curator and writer, Dr Kent Wilson, La Trobe Art Institute

 “Out in the heartlands of Australia silos are the skyscrapers of the bush. They shimmer on the horizon, like accidental sculptures or the remains of an ancient civilisation looming over, yet firmly embedded in the landscape.” 
What began as a roadtrip searching for the ruins of my g-g-grandparent’s Union Flour Mill near Dunolly has become a project to record, document and interpret the grain silos of Australia.

So far, it’s a treasure hunt through the heartland of Victoria and NSW, following the decommissioned rail lines, through small towns where the grain silo was often a centre of local seasonal life, where millions of tonnes of blood, sweat and soil came to be delivered, crops compared, stories told, lives lived. Fundamental changes to farming practices, on farm and bulk storage and high capacity headers have led to the closure of many concrete and steel silos.