Art Exhibition and Fundraising Auction
Date: Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Time: 6:00 pm to 08:00 pm
Venue: Kew Court House, 188 High Street, Kew Victoria
Launched by: Senator Mitch Fifield
Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector
Auctioneer: Ross Hedditch
Please ring Mary-ann on 03 9016 7678 or email her for more details
“Once-upon-a-time tens of thousands of Australian children contracted polio,
recovered, got on with their lives (some even became artists!),
and they all lived happily ever after.”
~ The End ~
Or not . . . This exhibition tells a myriad stories through thirty-five ‘artified’ leg and torso plaster casts.
Many polio survivors have vivid memories of wearing plaster casts to keep their limbs from becoming deformed during recovery and rehabilitation.
Twenty-four artists who have been ‘touched by polio’ in some way – survivors, family, friends – have contributed to the exhibition.
This was quite a ‘cathartic’ experience for some as they relived the pain of polio infection and a broken childhood.
Following decades of striving to be normal, these “polio children” are now in their 50’s or older, and experiencing the often debilitating Late Effects of Polio, plunging them back into a life filled with daily pain and increasing muscle weakness. A key problem is that there are very few health professionals who know about the Late Effects, leaving Australia’s polio survivors without appropriate diagnosis or management strategies. Rectifying this situation is the focus of Polio Australia.
As Polio Australia receives no government or any other recurrent funding, the “Touched by Polio” exhibition art works have been generously donated by the artists for auction/sale, with all proceeds going to assist Polio Australia in continuing our work. We have also been very grateful to receive pro bono support towards the exhibition from a number of other individuals and organisations, as detailed on the Our Thanks page.
