Melbourne’s cultural offerings
Antoine-Jean GROS
French 1771-1835
General Bonaparte at the Bridge of
Arcola on 17 November 1796
1796
oil on canvas
130.0 x 94.0 cm
Napoleonmuseum Thurgau,
Schloss und Park Arenenberg,
Salenstein
Collection of Queen Hortense
Melbourne’s creativity bubbles to the surface this season with a series of blockbuster exhibitions on offer to feed the cultural mind.
The city will host two of the country’s most exclusive exhibitions as part of the highly successful Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series; Napoleon: Revolution to Empire at The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and Game Masters, an interactive videogame exhibition at ACMI. Complementing the winter series is The Wonders of Mesopotamia at The Melbourne Museum.
Exclusive to the NGV, Napoleon: Revolution to Empire (2 June to 7 October) is a panoramic exhibition examining French art, culture and life from the 1770s to the 1820s including a focus on France’s close involvement with Australia in the early 1800s. Hundreds of paintings, drawings, engravings, sculptures, furniture, textiles, jewellery and armour will be showcased in Australia for the first time.
From 28 June to 28 October, Game Masters will profile over 30 leading game designers including renowned international, independent and local names. Game Masters is the follow up exhibition to the hugely successful 2008 exhibition, Game On, and will feature over 125 games available to play including many from the arcade era through to the latest consoles. A series of rare concept artworks as well as public, film and education programs will also be on offer. The exhibition has been curated by ACMI and is the first initiative of its kind in the country.
Following the record breaking success of Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia (4 May – 7 October) is a major touring exhibition exclusive to Melbourne Museum that showcases stunning artefacts from one of the world’s great ancient civilizations. Featuring over 170 artefacts from the renowned collection of The British Museum, the exhibition focuses on three of the great centres of ancient civilisation, Sumer, Assyria and Babylon, bringing their rich history to life through objects and multimedia.
For more information go to visitvictoria.com