When Clay on Country was being moved from Bunbury Regional Art Gallery earlier this year, Artback NT’s Visual Arts Coordinator Shanrah Austin travelled west to see the exhibition being packed up and gain a firsthand understanding of the scale and complexity involved in touring a major exhibition of this size across Australia. It’s currently being moved between Geraldton, WA and Devonport, TAS.

Clay on Country was already underway and had commenced its national tour when I joined Artback NT. The itinerary and freight logistics were organised prior to my arrival, and the exhibition had already opened at Cairns Art Gallery. Even so, stepping into the touring process quickly reveals just how much planning, care and coordination goes into moving an exhibition across the country.

From a logistical standpoint, the exhibition travels in 15 custom-built timber shipping crates, each fitted with wheels to allow for safe handling and movement. Our freight team in Perth measured the crates, calculating a total cubic volume of 12.408m³.

To minimise vibration during transport, we hire trucks with air-ride suspension, helping protect the artworks as they travel between venues. Each artwork is packed individually using archival, object-appropriate materials, ensuring every piece remains stable, protected and secure throughout the journey.

Altogether, the 15 crates weigh 1,371 kilograms: that’s over 1.3 tonnes of artwork and packing materials travelling around the country.

And care doesn’t stop once the crates arrive. At each venue there is a detailed process of safe handling procedures during installation, as well as condition reporting for every object on arrival and departure. This documentation ensures that each artwork is carefully monitored as it moves from one location to the next.

Because of the scale of the exhibition, packing and transport can take one to two weeks, depending on how many staff are available to assist.

Among the most delicate works in the exhibition is Putu Frottage (2021) by Sally Mumford. While ceramics can range from robust to highly fragile, these works on paper require particular care due to the delicate nature of the material.

Putu Frottage is composed of twelve individual sheets of Wenzhou paper, a lightweight handmade paper known for its fine, delicate surface. Each sheet features a frottage, a rubbing that captures subtle surface textures through pressure rather than direct mark-making.

In this work, Mumford used clay and graphite to create rubbings from putu, or termite pavements: circular, flat, sun-baked clay surfaces formed by harvester termites. The process captures the intricate textures of these formations without drawing directly onto the paper.

Because Wenzhou paper is extremely fine and prone to tearing, the work requires particularly careful handling. Sally has even chosen to include a section with a torn area as part of the piece. Spread across twelve sheets, Putu Frottage becomes one of the larger works when installed, and also the most delicate set of works in the exhibition.

Touring an exhibition like Clay on Country involves far more than simply moving artworks from one gallery to another. It is a careful choreography of packing, transport, installation, documentation and teamwork, all working together to ensure these artworks can be safely shared with audiences across Australia.

Shanrah Austin worked with Artback NT for two years, and we are grateful for all her hard work behind the scenes.

Clay on Country departed Geraldton Regional Art Gallery on 14 April 2026 and will arrive at Devonport Regional Gallery on 20 May with a couple of stops on the way. The show will open in Devonport on Friday, 29 May, with a floor talk with artist and curator Neridah Stockley on Saturday, 30 May.