WHEN IN DROUGHT

THERE’S A GENTLEMAN FROM BRIM, a small town in rural Victoria, who stands a mighty 30 metres tall. And he also stands as a symbol of resilience as his community continues to battle the harsh Australian drought. His name? It probably wouldn’t be too hard to find out. The large-scale portrait was completed on the town’s decommissioned grain silos in 2016 and although the names of the four featured characters were withheld at first, it’s not difficult to identify a face among a population of fewer than 200 people. Yet the anonymity seems apt. With his head bowed, eyes closed and, it seems, the weight of natural disaster on his shoulders, this farmer could be any number of Brim locals struggling without rain.

The work of Brisbane artist Guido van Helten, the mural was the first on what is now the Silo Art Trail, an al fresco gallery linking Brim with neighbouring towns – Lascelles, Patchewollock, Rosebery, Rupanyup and Sheep Hills – in the Wimmera Mallee. The 200-kilometre stretch, starting about 300 kilometres north-west of Melbourne in Rupanyup, has stimulated visitor interest in an area previously unsung. The tourist surge has been