Uncomfortable Art Tours
Some of you may have tuned in to ‘The Art Show’ hosted by Namila Benson on Radio National on Wednesday morning. If you missed it you can hear it as …
‘COVIDEO Art’
A number of guides have recommended the following video: And Mandy Yencken found this to share: So I decided it was time for the NGV to use its artworks to …
Crytoscopophilia
Our ‘current virtual world’ has not been too difficult for me as it has allowed me to indulge in my longstanding passion – ‘crytoscopophilia’. In the past I was embarrassed …
Art in the time of plague (2)
It is too early to really know how artists will respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The images which are already circulating come mainly from street art, memes and the humorous …
To fall with your nose in butter
I have never fancied myself as a matchmaker but occasionally I meet people and think: “I reckon I know someone that you would get on with really well. I think …
Art in the time of plague (1)
As we know from our current situation, crisis generates creativity, and this was certainly the case in the late 14th century when European artists responded to the devastation of the …
Cheers! (1)
It is Sunday, and Sunday afternoon is the perfect time to relax with a cocktail and enjoy a work of art. I entered the word ‘cocktail’ on the NGV website …
The helping professions
Today when a contagion appears we have a clear sense of aetiology, treatment, epidemiology and prevention. This was not the case in the Medieval period when the Black Death emerged. …
A tomb with a ‘view’
The chaos, uncertainty and devastation that came with the Black Death caused profound changes in the Medieval world. This is well-documented by contemporary writers and also reflected in art and …
Dealing with death
Every night we see televised images of bodies being taken from hospitals and stacked in refrigeration trucks before going to overwhelmed funeral parlours. Often people have died without their families …