Steichen, Disarm and GAZI

Today is Tash's birthday so I met up with her this afternoon to celebrate her special day.  We started off at the NGV for the newly opened exhibition Edward Steichen and Art Deco Fashion.  Steichen was the chief photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair from 1923-1938, and photographed models, Hollywood actors and other important people of the time.  The photos were pretty amazing, especially the portrait shots of Greta Garbo and Gloria Swanson.  The exhibition also includes Art Deco dresses, coats and shoes from the 1920s and 1930s.  The beading and sequins on these pieces is very intricate and beautiful.  It's great to be able to look at the clothes up close and see the detail of the work.  I highly recommend the exhibition, which is on until March 2014.  Check it out if you are in Melbourne.

When we exited the exhibition we were able to watch a live performance in the NGV's Federation Court of Mexican artist Pedro Reyes' Disarm, which is part of the Melbourne Festival.  Reyes' used parts of weapons confiscated by the Mexican Government to create 47 musical instruments.  The motto of this work is "Make Art Not War!"  The live performance this afternoon was improvised by avant-garde collective Make It Up Club, who played for a bit over an half hour.  It would have been interesting to see what previous performers have done with the instruments over the past few weeks.  Both Tash and I also thought of all the sampling one Wally De Backer (aka Gotye) could do- who knows what music he would come up with?  After the performance we had some afternoon tea in The Tea Room, including macarons and a coffee eclair.  Yummy!

We met up with Tash's friend Melissa for a drink at The Duke before heading to dinner at George Calombaris' Greek restaurant GAZI.   I have been meaning to try this place out for a while, and it did not disappoint.  We had excellent service throughout the evening, and were seated at the bar so we were able to watch the kitchen preparing all the dishes in front of us.  We started with a trio of dips and then shared the vegetable, cheese and eggplant entrees.  We each got our own little souvlakakia (I had the duck) and then sorbet and loukomathes for dessert.  I was so full at the end but it was such a delicious meal.  I look forward to coming back and trying more dishes on the menu.

Melbourne Festival

Over the past few weeks the Melbourne Festival has been going on around town, featuring dance, theatre, music, visual arts, multimedia and outdoor events by Australian and international artists.  Today at lunch I finally managed to get out of the office to see the Angels-Demons. Parade statues by Russian art collective AES+F that are dotted around Swanston Street and St Kilda Road.  I saw four of the seven giant statues at Town Hall, City Square, St Paul's Cathedral and Federation Square.  Each one is a different shape and size, and are quite amazing to come across in the middle of an urban landscape.

After having drinks and dinner with Chantal and Amrita at a bar along the Yarra River in South Wharf, I walked to the Arts Centre to see the remaining three Angels-Demons. Parade statues and catch the light show Cacophony: The Art of Conflict by Australian projection artists The Electric Canvas.  The walls of Hamer Hall and the State Theatre were used for a series of different projection vignettes- some going on simultaneously and others alternating.  I watched for about 15 minutes and one of my favorite projections was a paint ball war where guns and cannons appeared and then paint splotches hit the opposing buildings.  This is the last week of the Melbourne Festival so be quick if you watch to catch any of the events or shows.