Following months of closure, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne reopened to the public on Saturday, 27 June.
The gallery adapted well to the upheaval of normalcy this year, despite reportedly postponing two exhibitions due to restrictions caused by Covid-19 (the 2020 winter masterpiece exhibition, and the second triennial slated for December this year). While operating through closure, the team at the NGV brought the gallery experience into our homes. By hosting online events and courses, delivering virtual tours and talks, and sharing essays and interviews, the artistic community is able to continue to appreciate the landmark destination through lockdown measures.
However, regardless of how impressive an online experience is executed, it is incomparable to visiting the gallery in person. Thankfully, the institution reopened in line with the Victorian Chief Health Officer’s guidance. To reduce risk and adhere to physical distancing regulations, the NGV is implementing timed ticketing, enhancing queue management measures, and increasing the frequency of deep cleaning and the number of hand sanitiser stations available.
Currently, the National Gallery of Victoria is running four exhibits both in the museum and virtually. Upon your next in gallery or virtual visit you can enjoy Collecting Comme, Top Arts 2020, Japanese Modernism, and Marking Time.
Collecting Comme is a celebration of Commes des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo’s consistent approach to designing ‘clothes that didn’t exist before’. The exhibit features fifty examples from the NGV’s Commes des Garçons collection; examining Kawakubo’s progressive concepts and design methods starting with her first presentation in Paris in 1981.methods starting with her first presentation in Paris in 1981.
Rei Kawakubo
Commes des Garçons
Image source: The National Gallery of Victoria
Top Arts 2020 celebrates the art works of VCE arts and studio arts students. In a range of mediums, students explore themes of environment, mental health, identity and more, in an expression of issues that excite and concern the next generation of artists.
Jebediah Holstin
Howl, 2019
Image source: The National Gallery of Victoria
Japanese Modernism displays major works by female artists from the early 1920s until the late 1930s, including rare large-scale paintings, modernist colour prints, fashion, interior design and popular culture.
Hisui Sugiura
The first subway in the East 1927
Image source: The National Gallery of Victoria
Marking time examines drawings and markings made on rock face, ground, and the human body across Indigenous Australia. The lasting and continued discourse on Indigenous culture speaks to the continued importance of Indigenous expression in art.
Unknown artist
‘Ngurlu manu pirdijirri Jukurrpa’ 1986
Image source: The National Gallery of Victoria
To visit The National Gallery of Victoria book your free timed ticket online. To follow the Victorian Chief Health Officer’s guidance, visitor numbers are limited per session, and visitors must book individually to support contact tracing.
Written by Cloe Johnston
