art and design

HOT: Melbourne Design Market, Federation Square carpark, Melbourne

June 14, 2009 ⋅ One comment

I adore markets, whereas RM isn’t so much of a fan of the hustle and bustle (unless it’s a book market, but there’s not normally a noisy scrum of people at those). However, I did manage to drag him to one of my favourite Melbourne events – the biannual Melbourne Design Market at Federation Square [...]

HOT: Art Chat with Murray Walker, NGV Australia, Federation Square, Melbourne

June 11, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

An art gallery (granted, the major gallery) in a city of only 3 million people can afford to open late one night a week, and people will actually turn up. These facts make me appreciate living in Melbourne, a city with what I believe is a disproportionally high level of interest and creativity activity in [...]

HOT: KK Exports, Guildford Lane Gallery, 202-4 Guildford Ln, Melbourne

June 11, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Having lived in Melbourne for several years, I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about what was hidden in its mysterious laneways. Not so – I only found out about Guildford Lane today, and discovered that it is the resident of a fabulous (but freezing) warehouse-style art space called the Guildford Lane Gallery. The gallery is [...]

HOT: Dressed to Rule, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Southbank

June 4, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

The second half of my very informative (and one-on-one) fashion-focused tour with the NGV guide was to the Dressed to Rule exhibition. I never knew that the NGV had such a well-preserved collection of Chinese imperial robes, and this exhibition includes robes worn by members of the imperial court and even the Emperor, as well [...]

HOT: Persuasion, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Southbank

June 4, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

I’m a keen devotee of BBC costume dramas and I’ve just finished a marathon screening of the delightful Lost in Austen – so I was pretty sure that Persuasion: Fashion in the Age of Jane Austen would be right up my alley. The free exhibition is a small and well-curated examination of the fashion cycles [...]

HOT: Mr Tulk, State Library, 328 Swanston Street, Melbourne

April 21, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

The State Library’s resident cafe, Mr Tulk, is not just a mere sideline to the books – I’ve often eaten at the cafe without stepping foot into the library, my only reading material a copy of The Age’s weekly Epicure section. The light-filled space is decorated with the jewel colours and scarpering curlews of Spike [...]

HOT: Lost and Found Market, 12 Smith St, Collingwood

April 13, 2009 ⋅ 4 comments

RM has been very patient with my new found penchant for retro lamps, so off I dragged him to Lost and Found Market. This indoor market is smaller than Chapel Street Bazaar but runs on the same idea – stall holders have a small space to display their secondhand wares, ranging from clothes, accessories, furniture, [...]

HOT: Chapel Street Bazaar, 217 Chapel St, Prahran

April 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Poking around a market is the perfect Sunday activity for me, and luckily RM was happy to indulge in my new-found passion for retro furniture. Chapel Street Bazaar, a treasure trove of unusual vintage everything, yielded not one, but two wonderfully restored and reasonably priced 60s lamps – a blue one for him, a red [...]