/ Current Exhibitions

ON THE BEACH
Melbourne Beach Culture Exposed
7 December 2006 – 25 February 2007

On the Beach tackles the mysterious allure of Melbourne’s beaches head-on in a kaleidoscopic pageant of artefacts, images, art and popular culture. Beaches and beach culture possess a magnetism that cannot be explained away by mere beach balls, bathers and bottoms, with Melburnians flocking to the shores in Summer since the nineteenth century, shedding inhibitions en route.

In this fun and celebratory exhibition there lies a dark undercurrent, in which the ‘otherworldly’ aspects of the beach are also explored. As Hollywood actress Ava Gardner reputedly said during filming of Stanley Kramer’s 1959 classic On the Beach, shot in Melbourne: ‘If you’re going to film the end of the world, this is certainly the place for it’.

On the Beach charts the changing attitudes in beach culture by bringing together over 100 significant beach artefacts from institutional and private collections across the state for the very first time. Nineteenth century neck-to-knee bathing costumes stand alongside their contemporary counterparts, and early balsawood surfboards jostle for space alongside historical life saving material such as ski boards and an elegant timber line reel, while nearby swimming regulations of 1912 stipulate that ‘No person clothed in a bathing costume shall sit, lie, loiter on, play games on, or run along the beach or seashore, but shall proceed in a direct line to and from the dressing place’.

Making Melbourne

Tracing the story of the city from early settlement to the present day.

Built on Gold

The story of Victoria’s gold, its journey and legacy in the years 1852-1862.

Growing Up in the Old Treasury

Recreating the caretaker’s apartments, as occupied 1916-1928.

Gold and Prosperity

The Vizard Foundation collection of colonial gold and silver.

/ Coming Up

Maggie Diaz – Into the Light
A Retrospective
10 March to 24 June 2007

American born photographer Maggie Diaz arrived in Australia in 1961 and soon established herself as one of Melbourne’s leading commercial photographers. Already an award-winning photographer in America, and resident photographer at the famous Tavern Club in Chicago for two years, Diaz used her flair for night photography and skill with available light to capture the essence of Melbourne’s arts and wider community over four decades.

Whether it be the players in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a radio personality, a fringe theatre actor or a street performer, her portraits capture the spirit of the performer and their art.

Now in her 80s, Maggie’s remarkable body of work has been brought together for the first time by guest curator Gwendolen De Lacy.

/ Events

Tuesday 23 January
and
Thursday 25 January
10.30am
Sea Pictures
A children’s school holiday workshop with music and watercolours.
$7 per child

Sunday 11 February
12.00noon
Amongst my Souvenirs
Join Barbara Summerbell for this delightful tour through her mementos of the 1888 Centennial Exhibition.
Free with entry

Saturday 24 February
12.00noon
Melbourne’s Hidden Galleries
Join curator Simon Gregg in this revealing walk exploring Melbourne’s art secrets.
$15 / $10 concession