Beechworth Courthouse Kelly Trials - Interpretation plan, design and implementation
Client: Shire of Indigo
Location: Beechworth, Vic
Completed: 2024
Collaborators: Lightwell, Show Works, Interactive Controls
The Beechworth Courthouse served the community in the administration of law for more than 130 years. It was the location of more than 40 trials and hearings for the Kelly Gang and its sympathisers and is now a central focus for cultural heritage interpretation and tourism with the Beechworth Historic Precinct.
Convergence was tasked with curating, designing and implementing a new permanent exhibition to revitalise interpretation within the courthouse. We developed a curatorial narrative which recognises the inseparable relationship between the myth of Ned Kelly, the landscape and history of Northeast Victoria, Beechworth Courthouse and its region.
Convergence’s design has brought the historic courthouse to life. It offers a sense of place and community and an appreciation of context and history. In collaboration with Lightwell media studio we developed a 270 degree immersive experience that literally allows the walls of the building to speak. The exhibition provides visitors with an understanding of life, community and law in 19th and 20th century Northeast Victoria and places the Kelly affair within the history of law enforcement and the judicial system in Victoria.
