29 JULY, 2026
Art flows at new exhibition Remnants: What Remains and What Flows is a compelling group exhibition curated by local Congolese-born, Melbourne-based artist and curator Wani Toaishara on show now at Wyndham Art Gallery. The exhibition brings together six internationally recognised artists: Idil Abdullahi, Anu Kumar, Latai Taumoepeau, Tace Stevens, Hussein Abdirahman Mohamud and The Unbound Collective to explore the past and the present. This free exhibition invites audiences into a space with unsettled archives, where what went before, the yesteryear and present, here and now converge, and where more equitable futures can be imagined. Spanning film, photography, performance, sound and ceramics, the exhibition uses soil, water and the body as material and metaphor conduits through which fractured histories are revisited, reimagined and renewed. A dedicated Auslan tour on Saturday 8 August at 10am is designed for deaf and hard of hearing audiences. Join Wani Toaishara for a curator talk and tour also on 8 August from noon to 1pm. This tour will have Swahili translation. The exhibition is open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm and on weekends Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm until 18 October.
Curator Wani Toaishara. (Damjan Janevski). 563970_03
Job’s a shaw thing By Laura Michell In November last year, Wyndham councillor Mia Shaw handed the mayoral robe and chain over to her colleague Josh Gilligan. Fast-forward eight months and Cr Shaw is once again leading the council after Cr Gilligan was suspended and his successor, Cr Preet Singh, resigned as mayor. Cr Shaw was elected to the role for the remainder of the current mayoral term – which ends at 6pm, 11 November – during a special council meeting on Thursday 23 July, defeating Cr Peter Maynard. Cr Singh announced his resignation as mayor just two days earlier following three-and-a-half months of pressure from the community and his colleagues.
Wyndham mayor Mia Shaw. (Damjan Janevski) 515504_02
As reported by Star Weekly, Cr Singh had endured widespread criticism since 30 March when it was revealed he wrote a character reference for a paedophile in 2024, prior to being elected to council.
In the months that followed, the embattled councillor refused to relinquish the mayoral role despite weeks of pressure from residents and his fellow councillors. On Tuesday 21 July, Cr Singh said he had made the decision to “hand over the mayoral chain” because he believed it was the right time. “It is my decision made on my own terms,” he said. “Not because the work is fi nished but because I believe it is the right time for another councillor to carry that work forward without distraction.” In returning to the mayor’s chair on Thursday night, Cr Shaw acknowledged the difficulties faced by her colleagues over the past six months and chose not to don the mayoral robe and chain.
“The past six months have been extraordinary. For me, they have been the most difficult six months I have experienced in my 10 years as a councillor, and I know that has also been true for most of my colleagues around the table, each for different reasons,” she said. “Th is has been a mayoral year like no other, and for me, stepping into this role now is about getting down to business and delivering for our community for the remainder of the mayoral term. “... Leadership is not something you put on. It is how you show up, the decisions you make, the standards you set and the responsibility you take on.”
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