Upon exiting the Eureka Tower gift shop, I decided walk over to the National Gallery of Victoriaand check out some of the art works. The Gallery, located next to the State Theatre, was opened in 1968 and currently holds 63,000 works of art. The building’s design is rectangular with the outside covered with solid grey stones. In 1986, Pablo Picasso’s painting ‘The Weeping Woman’ was stolen from the gallery by a group of people who identified themselves as the ‘Australian Cultural Terrorists.’ They believed that the government at the time was neglecting the arts and demanded the establishment of an art prize for young artists as ransom. The painting was returned a week later, being found in a railway locker.
Unfortunately, no cameras are allowed in the galleries so if you were expecting art pictures, you’re out of luck. However, I can describe what I saw to the best of my abilities. (The permanent galleries are free admission.) After turning in my camera & backpack, I proceeded to a travelling exhibition called Unnerved: The New Zealand Project. The exhibition celebrates the ‘extraordinary’ work of 26 contemporary New Zealand artists, ‘drawing on the disquieting aspects of New Zealand’s history and culture.’ When it comes to art, there are some things I don’t understand, like how can a particular work be considered art if it took no talent to create it? Or why are the galleries largely devoted to empty-space-and-not-enough-artworks? Despite some questionable ‘works,’ overall, the Unnerved exhibition is quite good. My favourite work is a sculpture of a seal balancing a grand piano on its nose.
I could spend several posts writing about the many exhibitions and their artworks so I’ll be brief. The permanent collection spans across many areas such as: Australian paintings, sculptures, photography, decorative arts, and multimedia; Pacific Art; Indigenous Art; Asian Art; international sculptures, photography, & paintings; and art from Mesoamerica. I must have spent a good 2 – 3 hours walking around the entire complex, looking at good & bad art. If you like what you saw, there are books that you can purchase at the gift shop that contain the entire exhibition.
It started raining when I exited the gallery; thankfully, I had my umbrella. When I reached Flinders Street Station, the light drizzle turned into a downpour. Many people ran for cover as they were bombarded by large droplets of water. I continued walking north along Swanston Street, the downpour ceasing when I reached Collins Street. After 15 more minutes, I reached my final destination: the Melbourne Museum. Adult Admission costs $8 and you’re allowed to keep your bag.
The museum has 21 permanent exhibits and still has room for 8 travelling exhibits. The permanent exhibits present collections on a wide variety of topics such as: dinosaurs; the human mind & body; history of Melbourne; marine life; Charles Darwin; Aboriginal art; and Victoria’s mountain forests. One of my favourite exhibits is the Forest Secrets, a living verdant fern gully enclosed in a glass cube. Here you get to see many Australian plants & flora as well as several lizards and fish. The Aboriginal art exhibit was also quite interesting with works from several prominent Australian Aboriginal artists, my favourite being the Aboriginal flag painted onto a canvass of old shoes worn by Australian Aboriginals.
Since I had arrived late in the afternoon, I didn’t have enough time to look at all the exhibits. I suggest setting aside at least 3 hours to get a good look at all the exhibits. When the museum closed at 5pm, I walked back to the YHA hostel, stopping at a local army surplus store along the way to window shop. They had some really interesting paraphernalia including an old army hazmat suit complete with a working gas mask.
For dinner, I decided to try a local kebab shop just a block away from the YHA I was staying at. The place is very small, somewhat hidden if you don’t know where to look but the kebabs are pretty good. A kebab is like a shawarma but not as good (in my view). I ordered the $9 special, receiving a large lamb kebab with a canned drink of my choice. For the rest of the day, I checked my email and watched some TV in the YHA lounge before calling it a night.
End of A Little More Closely Series
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