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.
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.
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.