It is with great sadness that we learned about the death of one of the most famous and influential musicians of out times, David Bowie.
How strange that only recently my husband and I made a trip to Melbourne to view his exhibition from the V&A, which was visiting from London, at ACME (Australian Centre of Moving Images) in Melbourne; David Bowie Is.
"Featuring over 50 legendary costumes, original stage set designs, handwritten lyric sheets, album artwork, rear film, video and photographs and interviews, the exhibition showcases Bowie's impact as a performer and screen star."
The organisers went to great lengths to make this event as informative, engaging and entertaining as possible. Upon entering the rooms, we were given an audio equipment device with a built-in sound recognition module that turned out to be a fantastic way of interaction between the exhibits and the music associated with them. It created a very important link between Bowie's songs and what inspired him to write them, giving us a great opportunity to better understand the creative process of his enormous talent as an artist, costumer designer, song writer and collaborator with similar creative minds such as Alexander McQueen and Laura Ashley. We spent a good couple of hours wandering amongst the collection of memorabilia, listening to his most renowned songs and admiring the avant-garde of his stage costumes.
The following day we paid a visit to National Gallery of Victoria to view "Masterpieces from Hermitage: The Legacy of Catherine the Great", which, given my Russian background, I was very eager to see. It would not be fair if I didn't pay credit to the museum staff who went to great lengths in trying to recreate the historical period of her ruling in such great detail that from the moment you entered the exhibition it made you feel that you belong to that era. The exhibition itself was very enjoyable and full of wonderful objects of art and artisan works that we Australians don't see very often.
We stayed at Inter Continental the Rialto right in the city centre and afterwards took a leisurely stroll back along the Southbank of Yarra river admiring the work of the city planners and architects for their skills in designing this part of the city where office buildings harmoniously co-habit with open spaces, artificial lakes and huge sun shelters where people can take a break for lunch or just enjoy the peace and serenity away from the city hubbub.
We took time to explore the city and its suburbs but decided to stay away from the CBD with its predictable shopping malls and designer stores. Instead, following the advice of the concierge from our hotel, we went to explore Brunswick and Fitzroy, two inner-city suburbs famously known for their coffee culture, night club life, vintage clothing and all things cool and kooky. We stopped for lunch at South of Johnston a cafe-cum-gallery (another suggestion from the concierge) where I had the most delicious steak panini and where the walls are adorned with the works of contemporary artists and every table is decorated in different styles.
After lunch we went around to discover (again, thanks to the advice of the concierge from the Rialto) the rich and colourful street art for which this area is known.
All and all we had the most enjoyable time-out and we came home invigorated and re-charged.
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