Bohemian Melbourne Exhibition

Bohemian Melbourne Exhibition

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Posted 2014-12-17 by Nadine Cresswell-Myattfollow

Wed 17 Dec 2014 - Sun 22 Feb 2015



It has been a long time coming but finally there is a thread in an exhibition that ties Melbourne together, wraps her up and explains some of our most colourful characters and characteristics.

The Bohemian Melbourne exhibition is on presently at the State Library of Victoria until Feb 2015. It was inspired by the work of Tony Moore a cultural historian at Monash whose work has broad public appeal. The exhibition is based on his book Dancing with Empty Pockets: Australia's Bohemians Since 1860.



Moore touches something that interest many of us because to look at bohemia is to examine trends that often starts out as flippant and out-there but often end up being the backbone of our popular culture whether in art, music, dance or film.

It is an exhibition about people who live fast and often die young but leave an impression as they flash past like shooting stars.



It seems there have always been bohemians, although the term changes along with the generations to words such as rebel, hipster and even punk.

The exhibition starts with Marcus Clarke who in fact once worked at the library. Although the word "work" perhaps doesn't quite cover his role. He would leave his unfinished cigar in the mouth of the stone lions outside the main door to let his friends know he was within and they come and annoy him. If he had no visitors and his hangover wasn't too bad he could spend time writing his novel, For the Term of His Natural Life, rather than doing the mundane tasks associated with librarianship.



Marcus Clarke was a key figure in a bohemian group from the 1860s which almost set a pattern for future bohemianism that often involved heavy drinking, "so called" scandalous behaviour and thumbing one's nose at the establishment.

The exhibition then wends it ways through a series of sections all painted in different colours to denote different places and periods.

There is a good section on those who moved to the suburban/rural edges. The Heidelberg School of bush painters who camped out and painted in beauty spots such as Heidelberg, Box Hill and Blackburn.



Then almost as if following in their wake, the modernists at Heide (Australia's own Bloomsbury set) and then what became the notorious bohemians at Montsalvat in Eltham, in their gothic turrets and Clifton Pugh's earthier conservationists at Dunmoochin.

There are oddities such as composer's Percy Grainger's attire that he would run up from beach towels although his whips for SM didn't make it into this family-friendly display. For finding out about his musical brilliance as well as his many obsessions and eccentricities it is worth visiting the Grainger Museum at the University of Melbourne.

So many Melbourne identities make it into this exhibition. There is a good section on Barry Humphries who was originally a young painter long before he had thoughts of the stage. Even there he was a showman shocking conservative Melbourne. He would pretend to vomit into a bag and then get out a spoon and eat it (the bag contained Russian salad with plenty of peas and carrots). He would also start his tram journey into town near naked and at each stop a accomplice world board along the way bringing him pieces of attire. The last one would bring him a bowler hat to complete his dress for town.



The Sunbury music festival is depicted in a few photos with hippies dancing half-naked. There is a whole section on bohemian Carlton with Pram Factory and La Mama and as the setting for shared households such as those depicted in Helen Garner's Monkey Grip. Incidentally she wrote much of this in the State Library and she and many Melbourne writers still work their today.

Skyhooks are there slinging off at suburbia ( Balwyn calling) Howard Arkleys artwork (possibly the most controversial part of the exhibition) Nick Cave as a hipster teen and a vibrant section on the famous drag balls at the Palais in St Kilda.

The last area is contemporary, rounding off the Melbourne of today, with its street artists, circus and burlesque performers. It includes Luke David Kellett's work from his 2011 series, This City Speaks to Me: a portrait of Melbourne's underground,

This is a key exhibition in terms of understanding Melbourne's culture. I have only done one of the free curator's tours, that runs for about 45 minutes, but if you go on your own you could spend well over an hour and a half viewing all the fascinating audio visual material. It is an exhibition that some people, including myself, will probably visit a number of times.

There is also a series of public events including panel talks, a cabaret performance, a film festival called 'Screening Bohemia' and a series of Bohemian Melbourne walking tours (sadly at present these are booked out – so lets hope they put on some more.) All events are open to the public, and to my knowledge, free of charge.

Visit the State Library Victoria website for more information on the exhibition or related events.



#art
#exhibitions
#free
#libraries
#city
#rainy_day
#december
#january
#february
!date 17/12/2014 -- 22/02/2015
%wnmelbourne
131967 - 2023-06-13 08:19:11

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