Galleries.
By Eric (Discover English Teacher)
As Spring continues to tickle us with its promise of sunnier days, I am reminded of another fun way to pass a weekend afternoon in Melbourne. Well, in more normal times it would have been, and hopefully it will soon once again, be an option. I am thinking about going to galleries. It’s fun to enjoy some art! It’s a great way to experience Melbourne culture, to visit slightly more out-of-the-way parts of the city; and art is also good for our mental wellbeing.
Melbourne (normally) has a vibrant art scene and many galleries where you can go and enjoy art of all forms. Hopefully, as the lockdown begins to ease these galleries will re-emerge – kaleidoscopic butterflies of craziness.
The National Gallery of Victoria is the largest and most well-known gallery in Melbourne. It has an enormous collection, split over two locations – International Art at the St Kilda Road site and Australian Art at Federation Square. It’s a lovely – free – way to spend a Spring afternoon. Sadly, like almost all of the city at the moment, the gallery is currently closed. In the meantime, you can visit their website: www.ngv.vic.gov.au and go for a virtual tour or join a selection of interesting activities (also free, mostly).
For more contemporary collections, The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art is located in Southbank. It’s also currently closed, but they have a collection of online experiences on their website: www.acca.melbourne
Besides the big galleries, Melbourne offers countless smaller galleries throughout the city. The suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood are particularly full of such places and it can be an exciting and happy way to spend a Spring weekend – going from gallery to gallery to gallery. Stopping for the occasional coffee, of course.
To find out about where these small galleries are located and what is on display, you can visit:
Most galleries will have an opening night every few weeks, where you can go along to meet the artists and enjoy a glass of wine.
Of course, right now this is all a distant dream because everything is closed. But perhaps by the time this goes online there might be the hope of seeing some art face-to-face.