Current Exhibitions
Text and Textiles
Ian Potter Museum of Art, 18 October 2009 to 18 April 2010
Egyptian hieroglyphs, Mesopotamian clay tablets, ancient Greek papyrus, fragments of woven linen Pharaonic tunics and woollen Coptic shawls feature in this exhibition that explores how texts and textiles were produced and used in antiquity. Highlights include papyrus fragments from a book by Thucydides found at Oxyrhyncus, faience shawabti figurines inscribed with lines of hieroglyphs known as Spell Six of the Book of the Dead and part of a Coptic tunic (or possible wall hanging) made from linen and wool with elaborate embroidered patterns. This exhibition offers a view into the lives of elite as well as average citizens from the great river valleys of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations through the texts and textiles that they read and wore.
Journeys and Places: Landscape Etchings by Jan van de Velde II
Ian Potter Museum of Art, 5 September 2009 to 17 January 2010
Since the university’s inception in 1853, thousands of rare and invaluable pieces have been collected. Shaped over more than 150 years by the many individuals who have donated, acquired and commissioned artworks, the collection comprises fascinating items of diverse cultural significance. This exhibition will include key paintings, works on paper, sculpture and decorative arts from the University of Melbourne Art Collection.
Highlights from the University of Melbourne Art Collection, part 2
Ian Potter Museum of Art, 5 September 2009 to 17 January 2010
This intimate one-room exhibition demonstrates the importance of the artist Jan van de Velde II (1593–1641) in the context of the Dutch Baroque landscape tradition. Jan van de Velde II is considered one of the most noteworthy Dutch etchers of the first part of the seventeenth century. The exhibition includes over fifty prints that are held in the John Orde Poynton Collection at the Baillieu Library, the most comprehensive collection of van de Velde’s series of landscapes in any Australian public collection. Journeys and Places will provide a rare opportunity for contemporary audiences to consider the technical innovations of this body of work as well as the symbolic meaning of the landscape in Dutch art of the period.
Reframing Darwin: Evolution and the Baillieu Library
14 August to 1 December 2009
At the Baillieu Library, Reframing Darwin: Evolution at the Baillieu and Darwin for Kids reveal Darwinism through primary and secondary materials related to evolutionary theory. Displays include Charles Darwin's major published material: The Voyage of the Beagle, On the Origin of Species, The Descent of Man and The Expression of the Emotions; the published work of Darwin’s contemporaries such as Thomas Huxley, Joseph Hooker, Alfred Wallace and Charles Lyell as well as that of his opponents and material relating to the Darwin debates taking place at the University of Melbourne. Darwin for Kids presents Darwinian ideas through artworks designed for young people through accessible and interesting media and includes two ‘primate workshops’ by artist Lisa Roet.