MFSR ART & PHOTOGRAPHY

2026 theme
Legends Of The High Country

The Bush Festival’s Art and Photography and Elyne Mitchell Photo Story Awards could easily become the leading ‘go-to’ exhibition for north eastern Victoria and beyond.

The 2026 Bush Festival’s theme ‘Legends of the High Country’ evokes Banjo Paterson’s famous poem, ‘The Man from Snowy River,’ ‘There was movement at the station…’ Paterson’s words hint at action to come.  For Corryong and the Upper Murray, the action is the opening of the Festival’s entries for the 2026 Art and Photography and Elyne Mitchell Photo Stories.  Entries are now open!

Locals and visitors alike have their own stories and opinions about whether or not Corryong’s Jack Riley was ‘The Man from Snowy River’. Some will name other contenders for Paterson’s ‘Man’.  This is your chance to depict in art, sculpture, photography and writing some of the many tales the about ‘The Man’.

Banjo Paterson was not the first to create a legend when ‘The Man from Snowy River’ was published on 26 April 1990 in The Bulletin.  Just fifty years earlier Paul Edmund Strzelecki had began creating his own legend with his ascent of Mt Kosciuszko on 12 March 1840.

Many questioned whether Strzelecki had climbed Mt Townsend or Mt Kosciuszko and indeed which mountain was the higher.   Mt Kosciuszko is 2228 metres and as Mt Townsend is 2209 metres.   There is only 19 metres difference.   Anyone who compares mainland Australia’s two highest and beautiful peaks could be forgiven for thinking that Townsend might be Mt Kosciuszko.

As the summit of Mt Kosciuszko is only 3.68km from Mt Townsend’s summit, it is easy to see how people have been confused about which mountain is which.  Other explorers had their own stories and more settlers followed, pushing the boundaries of civilisation. They all have their place in inspiring art, photography and legends.

Latter day High Country explorer, writer and sportswoman, Elyne Mitchell created legends in her Brumby stories and in creating them, in time she became a legend herself.

There were others who lived and worked in the hills – the gold miners and fossickers; the coach drivers like Tom Berrigan who drove the coach between Corryong and Tallangatta; the publicans, and their wives and families who ran the staging posts for travellers and refreshments for all; there were, and always have been the stoic, hardworking women who held their families and communities together.  And there were the mailmen who ensured the mail was delivered to remote places, such as Kiandra where in winter the mailman delivered letters on skis.

In more recent years there were those who built and worked on the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme.  Who could forget the surveyor ‘Major’ Clews who lived in a simple hut beside the Bogong Creek at Geehi?  There were the road builders, the skiers, the bushwalkers and the fishermen.  They all have a place in remote, high places and legend and importantly, a place in art and photography and photo stories.  We hope these suggestions will prompt memories of more legends and inspiration for your artwork.

For the Bush Festival, legends and the art media world is your oyster.  It doesn’t matter where you are, you are never far from some kind of hill in Australia.  Let’s see them represented in art and photography.

The theme ‘Legends of the High Country’ doesn’t have to be Australia’s highest mountains.   A small hill can be your High Country which inspires a memory of a legend.  Make sure your artwork links to the theme ‘Legends of the High Country’ in your caption

Equally, the High Country can be a place in your imagination, a dream to which you aspire.  If this is so, then paint your dream, or go out and find and/or photograph a landscape, or the fleeting moment that inspires your dream.  Don’t forget to write a caption for your artwork and if you are entering a photograph for the Elyne Mitchell Photo Story Awards, write your paragraph for your entry.  See the website bushfestival.com.au/photo-story/ for more information and guidance.

Legends don’t just belong in the past.  They are made and people make then all the time.  Some people don’t even know when they are making legends and these can be some of the best.  Think of the weather, the different seasons and seasonal events.  Remember that wherever you are in Australia, this great country of ours reveals its moods in an extraordinary diversity of inspiring colours.

Our farms, communities and the bush beyond can be a great source of inspiration for painting, drawing, photography and writing.  Show us what is possible and what is different!  Let your imagination fly. It is your opportunity to experiment and try something new.  If it doesn’t work, nobody is going to know except you and if it does work, then it is something you can share with others with pride.

Between 16 – 19 April 2026 The Man from Snowy River Bush Festival’s Art and Photography Exhibition will be at the forefront of art and photography in north eastern Victoria. Enter you artwork and come and enjoy the Exhibition and all it has to offer.  Meet other artists photographers, writers and bush poets…and many more like-minded people!  Perhaps you will even find inspiration for your 2027 entries!