The National Gallery of Victoria is currently exhibiting their collection of Felton Bequest images of scenes from Rajput courts. They are intimate and symbolic, and from 2019 there is something timeless about them, even though many of the paintings depict historical events and individuals. I think this has to do with context, some of the … Continue reading Remnants of paradise
Melbourne
Review: Dark Imaginings
Gothic literature can be dramatic, macabre, and weirdly insightful. To my tired eyes some examples of Gothic, like Castle of Otranto are also unintentionally and refreshingly hilarious. Yet Gothic tropes persist in popular culture even as they were interrogated centuries ago, and continue to be. Since it is Rare Book Week in Melbourne I took … Continue reading Review: Dark Imaginings
Some things change, some stay the same
I don't normally discuss such serious issues, but Melbourne is focused on the violent death of comedian Eurydice Dixon. The other night, close to home, as she returned from her stand up gig she was attacked. She had texted that she was safe minutes before this attack occurred as she crossed Princes Park. With the … Continue reading Some things change, some stay the same
All the life left
The clock strikes off the hollow half-hours of all the life that is left to you, one by one. - Emily Bronte I love this time of year; especially the long afternoons of mellow golden light, well at least on those days when it isn't raining or threatening to. While the sun is shining it's … Continue reading All the life left
They call it Moomba
I'm not from Melbourne, not even from Victoria. All I knew about the Moomba Festival was from television coverage of the Bird Man Rally each year where people attempt to fly cardboard contraptions by jumping off a pontoon into the Yarra River for charity. Except for the charity, I never got it. There's a party, … Continue reading They call it Moomba
I wasted a day
I wasted my Saturday talking to friends and thinking about fear and the future. It was wasted preparing for Sunday, when I helped sew my quilt. I wasted it wandering through a gallery looking at art. I dallied over my lunch in the city as I people-watched. For this wasted day I marveled at the … Continue reading I wasted a day
Review: Much Adoing around the Globe
On a bright, increasing warm afternoon, I attended a matinée showing of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing at the Pop Up Globe. The crowd was in a good humour and the performances were cheeky and energetic. It's been ages since I've seen a play, for real, in the flesh and I picked a good un. Despite … Continue reading Review: Much Adoing around the Globe
Review: Evolution, the art of Roma McLaughlin
Across Victoria right now there is much to do and take part in. You can barely sneeze without having to apologise to some sort of pop-up festival or annual event or show. Yet, it is not all about Melbourne's CBD, it's about regional Victoria, and the suburbs as well. Hence I visited the Whitehorse Artspace to … Continue reading Review: Evolution, the art of Roma McLaughlin
The zine scene
The State Library of Victoria is an architectural marvel of Melbourne, and a pretty inspiring 'suppository of all knowledge' to use an actual quote by a former Prime Minister. It also regularly stages exhibitions. A recent one featured zines. I am fascinated by bookmaking, book art, book ephemera, publishing, and hands on making. Despite this, … Continue reading The zine scene
No one view
Tis said there is only one view of Sydney, a vista that encompasses the Harbour, the harbour's old coat hanger of a bridge and the Opera House. Of course they are much-loved and instantly identifiable everywhere, even if our Prime Minister is not so much. Melbourne, meanwhile, has no single view. No one image sums … Continue reading No one view
