I have just come back home from a trip to Canberra that I made to see the Ballets Russes The Art of Costume exhibition and to attend my friend Ruth’s birthday party. The exhibition was spectacular. The National Gallery of Australia holds a significant collection of Ballets Russes costumes. The exhibition comprised of 150 restored costumes and accessories from 35 productions with 50 costumes making their exhibition debut. The exhibition which was to close on March 20Th has been extended due to it’s huge popularity until the 1st May.
The National Gallery of Australia has an extensive sculpture garden, but I somehow find the floating heads a bit spooky!
The last time I was in Canberra the Great Hall at Parliament House was closed. This time I was able to see Arthur Boyd's’s tapestry up close. Believed to be the world’s second largest tapestry it measures 20 meters wide by 9 meters high.The tapestry took the equivalent of fourteen full-time weavers over two years to complete the tapestry, which was woven in four separate pieces and joined together with industrial Velcro.
This is a detail of the bottom left hand side of the tapestry. You can see the different colour blends and the use of mark making in the tapestry, but it is only when you view it from a distance that you can see the depth of the design.
Lucky you to see it in real life! I have seen it in books but not in actuality.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary, the exhibition was fantastic and it has been so popular that they have extended the time that it will be on show. I did buy the catalog and lugged it home in my backpack but so far I have only glanced at the pictures. Many of the costumes were interesting the way that they had stenciled the design onto the fabric to keep the cost down. I also was not aware that the famous tapestry designer Jean Lurcat had also designed costumes for them.
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