Rainy Interlude

​After a delightful nature getaway in the Grampians, I returned to Melbourne for a weeklong interlude before my next trip, to Uluru. It was a mostly rainy week, so I used it as an excuse to visit some of the indoor attractions I had been keeping in the reserve. I explored some top-notch museums and galleries that added more depth to my understanding of the city’s attractions.

​The National Gallery of Victoria, or NGV, is so large that it has two campuses. One in the Arts Precinct housing the international collection, and one in Fed Square hosting the Australian collection. I had briefly visited the NGV International with Vincent and Rachel back in January but wanted to circle back to see more. In particular, the NGV was wrapping up its Triennial exhibition – I managed to catch the very last day! I knew about the Triennial from word of mouth, newspaper articles, and intriguing posters around town, depicting a duct-taped banana and Boston Dynamics robots. These were just the tip of the iceberg.

The Triennial artworks were not in a single gallery, but rather spread out through the whole building, interspersed with the permanent works. There were too many to describe, but I will pick a few favorites.
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A series of slow-moving digital animations by the artist group SMACK were captivating and horrific. The installation was a riff on The Garden of Earthly Delights, a 16th century triptych by Hieronymus Bosch. The SMACK version used the iconography of modern excesses, with viral dances, fast-food consumerism, and in the panel representing hell, creative methods of punishment like an angry swarm of security cameras. People were captivated.

​The Boston Dynamics robots were also worth seeing. It was a zoo-like exhibit, with three robots doing different activities. One was painting on the wall, creating the primitive cave artwork of the AI era. Another was doing laps and engaging with the spectators with knowing looks and head bobs. People were loving it. Though I wish there was more information about what the robots were programmed to do, versus what was spontaneous behavior.

​There were also interesting sculptures that blended the natural and the unnatural, like a felled tree made of recycled wooden tools, a giant floor rug inspired by weather patterns, and a classroom full of dodo skeletons with grafted tree branches. An exhibit on flowers and transience had rows of preserved bouquets. A room full of projection screens showcased photography from megacities around the world. I found the famous ceramic hamburgers in the China gallery.

​Continuing the art themed day, I explored some of Melbourne’s famous laneways in search of street art. Thanks to the city’s grid design, which neatly sub-divides the major city blocks with smaller lanes, one doesn’t have to stray far from Flinders Street or Collins Street to encounter graffiti.

​The laneways were full of eclectic subjects, from Baby Yoda to Aboriginal rights. Nearby ACDC Lane had a few tributes to Bon Scott. Along Hosier Lane, I saw a new painting being created in real-time. The artist had drawn a sketch outline of an elf character and was starting to fill in the base color. The clacking sound of the shaking cans and pungent cloud of solvent turned this primarily visual art into a multi-sensory experience. I returned a few days later to see the finished product, looking very polished.

The Melbourne Museum, located in the Carlton Gardens and a short walk from my apartment, was the next destination on my list. It was popular with families, especially during Victoria’s school holidays.
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An exhibit focusing on Aboriginal culture and history was thoughtfully crafted. There were beautiful possum cloaks, some using 50 pelts, with elaborate artwork and maps drawn on the inside. It described funeral practices, like the practice of wearing a heavy, rounded mourning cap made of gypsum. It also emphasized the Aboriginal groups’ armed resistance to Europeans, such as the Eumerella Wars, to dispel the myth of a passive takeover. The colonists were only able to quell the Aboriginal guerilla methods by using a force called the Native Police, Aboriginal soldiers conscripted from other areas who were able to navigate the terrain.

​A special photography gallery highlighted the intersectionality between being indigenous and disabled. A shocking 46% of First Nations Australians have some form of disability and are 2.6 times more likely to have a profound disability. The individual stories were diverse and saddening. One man lost his vision after British nuclear bombs were tested near their community in Maralinga in the 1950s. One woman developed a severe disease after an allergic reaction due to medical malpractice. Another man was injured by a land mine in Vietnam. The pictures of each subject were black and white holograms, just as striking as the stories.

​Upstairs was an exhibit on the history of Melbourne as a city, from the gold rush to the present. It explained the role of individuals like Captain William Lonsdale and Governor Richard Bourke, whose names now grace the major streets in the CBD. I learned some great trivia, like the government’s 1868 mandate of a specific cast iron ornament (featuring the Melbourne coat of arms) that I now notice on buildings all over the city. Also on display was the taxidermy of the famous racehorse Phar Lap.

​In addition to social history, a huge section of the Melbourne Museum was dedicated to natural history. While many people were there for the dinosaur skeletons, my highlight was the entomology wing. There were beautiful cases of preserved beetle and moth specimens, but also a fair number of living displays… including spiders. Not just the “everyday” spiders like white-tails or huntsman, but several types of the deadly Funnel Web spider. Thankfully, antivenom was developed in 1981 and there have been no recorded deaths since. The largest spider display had tree branches with enormous webs and their weavers, but no glass barrier. I hope the curators knew what they were doing. The museum also had a forest-garden with ferns, birds, and an aquarium.

Leaving the museum, I got caught in a downpour and was thoroughly soaked. I didn’t learn from my mistake and was caught in another downpour the next morning while walking to the tram station.
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The NGV Australia Gallery was in a beautiful building with a network of glass triangles on its façade. On display were works by modern Aboriginal artists, historical colonial paintings, watercolor landscapes from the Hermannsburg School, the personal collection of Joseph Brown, and new commissions from a mentorship program. A few favorites were a 1955 John Brack painting of Melbourne commuters, an eerie wire music box, and a parody of the MacDonnell mountain range featuring the golden arches.

​After soaking in the artwork for a few hours, I tried an almond croissant at Lune, a well-known bakery with multiple locations in the city. I found the croissant itself to be a little too soft, but the crunchy almond topping was delicious. The bakery had a constant stream of tourists and locals, and it was fun to watch the pastry pipeline in progress.

The next day, I went to the Chadstone Mall with Reggie for some shopping errands. “Chaddy” is the largest mall in Australia! It was impressive in both scale and layout. There was a mini entertainment precinct, several food courts, and a hundreds of shops. I bought some lightweight “amphibian” short pants, tried on some adventure hats, and scoped out wedding clothes. I don’t enjoy shopping for clothing and tend to get indecisive, so I passed on a few items.

After unsuccessfully continuing the hunt in the CBD, I ended up going back to Chaddy a second day in a row to buy the wedding shirt. It wasn’t the easiest journey, requiring a regional train and a bus connection. I got lost trying to find my way out of the mall, prolonging the return journey.

​The Melbourne International Comedy Festival was in full swing, with dozens of comedy acts happening in parallel every night at venues around the city. I went to see an Indian comedian named Anirban Dasgupta at the Town Hall, and Gail was kind enough to join. The venue was the Cloak Room, a small but comfortable space. Anirban’s comedy centered on Indian life and politics, poking fun at censorship, Gandhi, and crowded living situations. The jokes were well crafted and entertaining.

​Afterwards, Gail and I went to a cocktail bar called Nick & Nora’s with a 1930’s art deco theme. The vast menu was organized into different character tropes, like the femme fatal and the bon vivant. I tried two drinks: the “Met your Matcha” with whiskey, pistachio, lemon, and matcha and the “Golden Slip” with cognac, yellow Chartreuse, egg, and nutmeg. Both drinks were phenomenal. It was a cozy bar, with wooden paneling, low lighting, and electroswing music. The perfect place to gossip the evening away. Just as it was quieting down, a flaming drink was elaborated prepared for the table next to us. It was a delightful evening of comedy and conversation.

​Even after several months in Melbourne, there was so much new to experience. A rainy week was the perfect nudge to focus on museums, galleries, shopping, and entertainment.