HOT: Melbourne Now, The Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, Federation Square, Melbourne

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Jetsetting Joyce

Melbourne Now is National Gallery of Victoria’s exhibition celebrating the latest art, architecture, design, performance and cultural practice of creative Melbourne. It spans both NGV International and NGV Australia and you’ll need lots of time to visit both.

When you first enter the foyer of the Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia you’ll see an amazing lounge room, hallway and dining made up of piped icing. ‘At home with the Hotham Street Ladies‘ is by the Hotham Street Ladies, five women who at one time lived in a share house in Hotham Street, Collingwood. Together they create food-related art, such as cake sculptures and street art, in a commentary about craft, domesticity and feminism.

The installations are quirky, humorous and definitely lickable and there are lots of fun details to spot.

Also on the ground floor is Show us your World by Jan Senbergs. Along a wall are a series of picture maps from different eras and a long drafting table with inset cups of coloured pencils to encourage kids to draw their own world, real or imaginary. They can then contribute to the exhibit by posting their pictures on the wall. I saw squiggly maps of Brunswick, maps of ‘home-school-nanna’s house’ and one with a dragon!

As you head up the stairs to the second level admire Triptych by Melbourne fashion designer Toni Maticevski. I have been obsessed by his work since seeing it at Bendigo Art Gallery and this series of three dresses continue his use of neoprene in intricate, sculptural ways. Their figures hang silently in the stark corridor of the stairwell and the effect is breathtaking. They were by far my favourite works in the exhibition.

Melbourne Now Toni Maticevski Triptych

On the second level in a previously void space is MARLARKY by Slow Art Collective. It’s a bright, playful and environmentally sustainable domestic habitat which encourages you to ‘play house’ amongst old tin cans, wool, mats and makeshift furniture made from found materials.

You can serve tea from the tea set, stir-fry woollen noodles in the wok, have a sleep on the bed and dance under the teepee, hitting the shapes to emit different sounds.

This is just a snapshot of the vast Melbourne Now at NGV Australia. To continue your exploration of Melbourne Now you can also visit the rest of the exhibition at NGV International.

Melbourne Now

Melbourne Now, The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square, Melbourne until 23 March 2014

HOT: Melbourne Now, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Jetsetting Joyce

If you haven’t heard of or visited Melbourne Now yet, get out from under your rock!

Melbourne Now is the National Gallery of Victoria’s most ambitious and wide-ranging exhibition every and it celebrates the latest art, architecture, design, performance and cultural practice of creative Melbourne. There are so many exhibits, performances, workshops and activities to explore it can be a bit overwhelming. Over three levels of the gallery you’ll find provocative works, ugly works, boring works and fascinating works.

Melbourne Now, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne (9)

But if you’re looking for a light-hearted view of the exhibition here are my picks of the most ‘fun’ bits of Melbourne Now at NGV International.

Trugo-GoGo by Tim Fleming and Phooey Architects

Did you know Trugo is a game that was invented and is only played in Melbourne? In the 1920s a group of workers in the Newport railway yards invented a game using equipment built from bits and pieces lying around the yards. Tim Fleming and Phooey Architects have built a version of Trugo for Melbourne Now which includes foam mallets and ‘doughnut’ wheels which you have to hit along the green. There is an entertaining and funny cartoon that accompanies the display which introduces the history of Trugo and how to play.

You, Me and the Flock by Juan Ford

Everyone loves stickers, right? And stickers that you can stick to a gallery wall to help create the work – even better! Juan Ford’s work is not just interactive, it’s also a very calming space if there’s no one around.

For You by Darren Sylvester

This lit up multicoloured nightclub dance floor has been really popular with patrons young and old.

Co Workers, Hanging Sculpture by Meredith Turnbull

You can make their own beaded necklace using leather cord, plastic pieces and wooden beads. You can then take home your creation or leave it on the wall to hang with other colourful adornments to make a wearable sculpture.

If you have kids this long weekend is a particularly great time to visit Melbourne Now because the inaugural NGV’s Children Festival will be happening from Saturday 18 January to Sunday 26 January. There are workshops, talks and Roll around the block – a photographic project aimed at children where your kid’s works have the chance to grace the walls of the gallery! There are also a series of free bike rides which I’ve been participating in which have been very thought-provoking and entertaining.

You can download the Melbourne Now App for detailed guides on the exhibition and look out for my next review of Melbourne Now at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

HOT: Next Wave Breakfast Club, The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Jetsetting Joyce

It’s 2 degrees and dark. I drag myself out of bed and hop on my bike, hands chapped and breathing frigid air fumes.

What for? To warm up my intellectual muscle at Next Wave’s Breakfast Club.

Next Wave is a biennial arts festival which celebrates independent, local artists and the Breakfast Club is a free event that’s happening over four weeks in June and July at The Wheeler Centre. It’s a forum for exploring how different social and intellectual issues can inform artists and creatives in their work and conversely, how art can interact with our every day lives.

Bright and early at 8am about 100 people gathered for coffee from Small Batch and a healthy breakfast pot by Yoghurt Culture (cost by donation) and a dose of artistic and intellectual discussion before most of us have had our first caffeine hit and checked our inbox. I was attending as a ‘Live Scribe’ and live tweeted the speakers and the group discussions I listened in on during the 60 minute session.

The topic for the morning was ‘Nurture over nature? How does your family shape your relationship with art?‘. During the hour we listened to Phuong Ngo, an artist who is second generation Vietnamese and son of refugees; an artist of Aboriginal descent; and Jo Case, an author who has just published a family memoir around her son’s Asperger’s.

Each person discussed their work and ended their presentation with a series of provocations to stimulate conversations amongst strangers sitting at each table.

You can listen to a podcast of the speakers on or so there’s no need for me to repeat what was said. But the speakers and discussions did get me thinking about certain issues – as a migrant, as an Australian, as a mother and as a blogger:

When you’re a migrant your family’s history includes a recurring theme of displacement and the tyranny of distance. Sometimes old photos are the only link to the past.
So many Australians have an immigration history or story. We really are a nation of migrants and we often forget that in social and political debate.
Many Australians know very little about Aboriginal culture and art. Even simple things like do you know whose traditional lands we’re on today? Do you know how to say welcome in that language? I’m certainly guilty of that ignorance.
‘I don’t like it’ is often just another means of saying ‘I don’t understand it’.
When you write about your family, you need to consider the consequences of revealing private lives, your responsibility to represent real people in a certain way and when to reveal or not reveal information. A family memoir can affect the way the family sees themselves and you need to be ready for the fallout.
Artists are often educators but you can only work with your own experience. Often when you share your story you open up a conversation for others.

The speakers and the discussions convinced me to make certain resolutions:

I will make sure that my kids talk about and learn about both sides of their family history – second generation Chinese and seventh generation Anglo.
I will take my kids to visit galleries with indigenous art and read them more stories about indigenous culture.
If I write about my family I will involve them in the process and ensure that they are comfortable with the details that I’m sharing about their lives.

What surprised me about the discussions was that everyone was willing to share personal stories and very often the topic segued away from the topic to anecdotes about social histories, childhood experiences, interactions with indigenous culture, family dynamics and raising children.

There are no right or wrong answers to these big questions. What Next Wave’s Breakfast Club highlights is the intellectual, artistic, curious and sharing natures of Melburnians. I came away from the morning energised and loving the fact that Melbourne has the time and space to support these sort of stimulating discussions and that we live in a city that’s enriched by art and debate.

Book now for the last two Breakfast Club events as they sell out (though you can walk up on the day):

Image by Next Wave

HOT: Lisa Tomasetti “Behind the Scenes: The Australian Ballet on the International Stage”, James Makin Gallery, 67 Cambridge St, Collingwood

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Jetsetting Joyce

Dancers have provided inspiration for artists for centuries. I think it’s a dancer’s constant search for the perfect line and form and the potential expressiveness and passion of the human body which fascinates photographers, painters and sculptors.

Sydney based artist Lisa Tomasetti currently has a free exhibition of photographs she took for the Australian Ballet over a number of years which takes audiences ‘behind the scenes’. Not so much behind the scenes in terms of viewing rehearsals, watching from the wings or access into dressing rooms, but rather taking the dancers off the stage and onto the street during their international tours to Tokyo, New York and Paris.

The large scale works pose ballerinas in their classical costumes performing amazing dance feats and juxtaposed against recognisable urban environments – the faceless black-clad commuters of a Tokyo subway station, next to a cop car on the streets of Manhattan or in front of a metro sign in Paris. Some of the pairings are so incongruous that it’s as if the dancers have been photoshopped into their background, particularly when they’re captured while suspended in mid-air.

My top three favourite images all come from New York.

The first is of Amy Harris on Brooklyn Bridge. I love that bridge as a piece of architecture and the lines of wire and wood and the spaces created between them are echoed in the sculptural style of the ballerina’s concertina tutu from Divertimento which is also constructed from a traditional building material – air conditioning pipes (the tutu is currently on display at NGV as part of their Ballet and Fashion exhibition). Amy also looks like she’s spontaneously leaping for joy!

My second favourite picture is of Reiko Hombo arching into a leap in front of a neon American flag. I like that it’s contemporary and modern without speaking specifically of a particular time or place (it was taken in Times Square). And the form in that jete is so graceful yet powerfully explosive at the same time, with her hair flying tightly around her head.

Similarly I love the Amber Scott in ‘The Highline’. Again I like the fact that it’s an urban landscape at first glance and only with more attention does it become clear that it’s the skyline of Manhattan, with the Empire State Building peeking out on the left. I like how Amber seems to be ecstatically enraptured by the expanse of the city.

Fans of dance and photography shouldn’t miss this exhibition and limited edition prints of each of the works are available for sale in a large or small format from James Makin Gallery. To view more images click here.

Lisa Tomasetti “Behind the Scenes: The Australian Ballet on the International Stage”, James Makin Gallery, 67 Cambridge St, Collingwood +61 3 9416 3966

7th – 30th March 2013

Tuesday – Sunday 11am – 5pm, Sunday – Monday by appointment

HOT: Country Women’s Association of Victoria State Fair, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2013, 3 Lansell Rd, Toorak

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Jetsetting Joyce

The Country Women’s Association is a not-for-profit organisation which provides support for women, primarily in rural and remote areas of Australia.
Each state has its own branch and the Country Women’s Association of Victoria has its headquarters in urban Toorak, in a grand mansion called Umina.

Every year, as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, the CWA opens up the grounds of Umina to host their Annual State Fair Fundraiser. It’s a chance for people of the surrounding community to explore the bed and breakfast run by the CWA (which is available as accommodation for the general public as well as CWA members) and to support the work of CWA by purchasing items from the various stalls.

Entry to the State Fair was free and it had stalls that you’d expect at any good country fair – a cake stall with homemade cakes, biscuits and muffins, a jam and preserve stall, lots of crochet and knitting and other craft items and of course Devonshire teas.

In fact, it’s probably a prerequisite to membership to CWA that you know how to make scones! I bought a dozen freshly made scones for $6 along and wrapped them up in a beautiful heavyweight linen teatowel I bought from the CWA merchandise stand.

The tea towel was designed by Australian artist Rachael Flynn of Red Tractor Designs and it features charming illustrations and a classic plain scone recipe. Maybe it’s even a recipe endorsed by CWA!

As for the scones, they were light and fluffy even reheated a day later and especially delicious when slathered with some homemade strawberry jam purchased from the State Fair.

HOT: Opening Weekend, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2013

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Jetsetting Joyce

The weather gods looked benevolently on Melbourne on the weekend as people celebrated food and wine as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

Rather than bombarding you with a load of posts at once, here’s a potted summary of my HOTs and NOTs over a packed weekend of wining and dining. Some of these events I was invited to, some of them I went off my own bat. If you didn’t have a chance to get to these events some of them may be repeated at a future date and some of them are held in locations that are open year round and host a calendar of foodie events.

HOT: Market of Eden, Prahran Market

Cider, particularly as a summer drink, is starting to gain a foothold in Australia’s bars and pubs as a substitute for beer – but I c0nfess I don’t know much about it other than the fact I very much enjoyed my first plastic cup of pear cider at Glastonbury Festival eons ago.

So I was curious about how you could match cider with food – I guess why not given that you can match wine with food and beer with food? On the weekend at Prahran Market they set up the ‘Market of Eden’, a hay-strewn long table in the middle of the fruit and veg hall where you sat on (rather itchy) bales of hay to sip four diffreent apple and pear ciders creations from Napoleone and Co paired with four French tasting plates designed by chef Walter Trupp using market produce.

Opening Weekend, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2013

In terms of drink, as expected I enjoyed Napoleone’s Regular Pear Cider the most as it was probably the sweetest of all the varieties we tried. The cider is made by winemakers Punt Road Wines in the Yarra Valley and as such they apply many wine making techniques to their cider creations.

And of course you pair pear with pear! So we got a large portion of chunky pear chutney along with a hunk of oozy white mould raclette sliced onto sourdough.

In terms of food my highlights were the crispy skin Berkshire pork belly, slow-cooked for 16 hours at 68 degrees and paired with a classic green apple and tangy rocket salad and a cider vinegar dressing and the starter of creamy squash vichyssoise served with cheddar cream, cheddar and fresh hazelnut shavings and hazelnut oil. Both of the dishes were matched with apple ciders which cut through the richness and creaminess of both dishes.

HOT: Chan’s Dumpling Festival, Treasury Gardens

I think Chan’s Dumpling Festival was probably the best value paid event in this year’s program and hence it sold out very quickly. For $20 a head 771 people joined in a Guinness World Record attempt to create the World’s largest Outdoor Yum Cha, sitting down at communal tables to partake in a 5 course dumpling service in Treasury Gardens.

The gardens looked spectacular, with giant Chinese lanterns floating into the azure sky, a smattering of stalls, kids activities and traditional musicians.

During the lunch we enjoyed live performances and I particularly enjoyed the lion dancing and kung fu demonstrations. And at the end everyone got to take home goodie bags filled with a small bamboo steamer, ingredients and a dumpling recipe book.

It was lucky that the weather was so beautiful and people were generally in a happy and festive mood, as the general consensus was that the food took too long to arrive. While it’s understandable that it’s hard to pump out so much food in a short period of time, it was particularly disheartening to watch trays move past you while you sat twiddling your chopsticks. I was at the festival with kids and had to leave early as they simply couldn’t wait 30 minutes for each course to arrive.

Overall I think the event was well run for a first go and the entertainment and setup exceeded my expectations. I hope that they’ll repeat it again in future while ironing out some of the logistical kinks associated with feeding that many people at once in an outdoor space.

NOT: Events with mass produced food generally

After this weekend I think my tip for selecting food and wine festival events in the future is not to go anywhere where the food will be mass produced. The events always seem to run late while your stomach growls impatiently and the quality and consistency of dishes declines as numbers grow. Marco Pierre White would flip out! (‘How long? How long? How long? Send it back! Send it back! Send it back!)

For instance, take my experience of the Bursaria Luncheon for about 250 people. I love Abbotsford Convent, I buy Warialda Belted Galloway Beef, I support the premise Slow Food Melbourne and I’m all for showcasing fresh, locally produced, seasonal produce. But all this positivity was marred by the fact the first course of a two course lunch didn’t arrive until over an hour after we were seated and the dessert came at the event’s designated finish time. I wasn’t the only one to have to gulp down my food and make a hasty exit after dessert – a pretty vanilla and rose panna cotta with a drizzle of bright pink pomegranate syrup and pistachio and biscotti lending crunch.

I hope they sort out the timing issues for future events as the Rosina Function Space is absolutely beautiful especially with sunshine streaming through the leadlight windows onto the polished floorboards. And I loved the hanging decorations on the high trusses and table settings using plants and twigs and leaves. In fact, if I was getting married this would be my choice of wedding venue!

David’s Restaurant Christmas Giveaway!

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Jetsetting Joyce

It’s only 2 weeks till Christmas, how did the year go so fast???

To help you celebrate the Christmas season one of my favourite Chinese restaurants David’s (see several of my previous posts here) have created some special dishes such as Drunken Whole King Prawns, Shanghai steamed ginger Tsingtao whole crab and their unique take on the classic Sweet Corn Chicken Soup. I’ve made my booking for Christmas Eve dinner as I actually don’t fancy a turkey and roast spuds this year.

If you’d also like to experience a festive feast that’s a bit different then David’s are offering 1 x $100 voucher valid for lunch or dinner up to Monday 31 Dec. To win all you have to do is leave a comment and the winner will be drawn randomly on Friday 14 December 5pm. Good luck!

HOT: Melbourne Bike Share En Masse 2012, Silo by Joost, 123 Hardware Lane, Melbourne

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Jetsetting Joyce

Friday is the most relaxed day of the work week for most of us, so I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a bike ride and free stuff.

In 2011 Andy White aka cycling personality Fyxomatosis gathered together cyclists from all over Melbourne to create a new World Record for the most bike share bikes in one place at the one time.

In 2012 Cheryl Lin from Business Chic and I joined the group in another world record attempt at En Masse. So we didn’t reach a higher number this year but we did grab our free Melbourne Bike Share bike, pedal our way to uber-sustainable cafe Silo by Joost and enjoyed free coffees (Cheryl was very jittery after drinking numerous coffees in the quest to win a Giant Via bike!), a filling egg sandwich and pork sandwich between the two of us, muffin and a chat with Melbourne’s cycling community.

If you missed En Masse this year then look out for event details in 2013. You can also see more bike goodness from Fyxomatosis at the inaugural Australian Custom Bicycle Show coming up on 1 and 2 December at 167 Gladstone St, South Melbourne.

HOT: Ballet & Fashion, National Gallery of Victoria, 180 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Jetsetting Joyce

As soon as I found out about NGV’s latest fashion exhibition ‘Ballet & Fashion‘ I knew I had to visit. I love ballet, I love ballet costumes and I love fashion, and I was curious to see what kind of items they had on display.

Given the number of fashion designers who have collaborated with ballet companies around the world over time, including The Australian Ballet, I was surprised by the small scale of this exhibition. There are only about 20 costumes in total – albeit designed by famous local and international designers such as Collette Dinnigan and Christian Lacroix. I’ve visited the costume department of The Australian Ballet and believe me there are a lot more fabulous tutus in the archives!

Nevertheless, if you’re going to NGV International anyway then the two rooms are worth visiting – the exhibition is free. I particularly loved the wild headdresses made by local milliner Richard Nylon and the delicate brocade, silk tulle and organza embroidered costumes designed for Romeo and Juliet by Akira Isogawa.

From the cheap seats you don’t get to appreciate the intricate detail and craftsmanship that goes into making a ballet costume and the accompanying video is interesting for its insight into Akira’s work with the cast and then watching the dancers bring the clothes alive.

Finally, for those with little ones you may be interested to know that Collette Dinnigan has collaborated with The Australian Ballet and Target to design a range of ballet-inspired party wear for girls aged 3-8 years. The collection will start selling on November 21 online and in store. Judging by the Collette Dinnigan tutu on display at this exhibition, I’m sure it will all be beautiful and adorable!

Ballet & Fashion, NGV International 180 St Kilda Rd

3 November 2012 – 19 May 2013

Underground Cinema Hope – Giveaway

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Jetsetting Joyce

Underground Cinema is a secret film screening event that happens in secret locations throughout inner Melbourne and for the first time ever – Sydney. I’ve been a guest of Underground Cinema a few times (read reviews here and here) and it’s always been great fun – there’s the opportunity to get into fancy-dress and meet at a secret location to enjoy food, drinks and entertainment along with a secret film.

Their latest event is entitled ‘Hope’ – the invitation definitely sounds on the sci-fi side.

All tickets to Sydney and Melbourne sessions sold out – but there’s hope (haha)! I have a double pass to give away on for the 4pm session on Sunday 22 July. To win, all you have to do is leave a comment and the winner will be randomly drawn Friday 13 July. Good luck! Comments have now closed.

MEL: HOT OR NOT

The decisive guide to Melbourne

Category Archives: free stuff