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Royal photographers weigh in on photo editing fiasco

<p>Royal photographers, brothers Zak and Samir Hussein have opened up about the realities of altering royal images - including what is and isn't allowed. </p> <p>"It's pretty clear what we're allowed to do – we're allowed to basically use darkroom techniques," Samir - who has also taken official portraits of members of the royal family - told <em>9Honey</em>. </p> <p>He then explained what darkroom techniques entail: "So what photographers in the days when they were shooting film used to do in the dark rooms.</p> <p>"We're pretty limited in what we can do, it's sort of a basic crop, maybe a bit of colour correcting and that's how we edit our photos basically.</p> <p>"Sometimes you look at picture and you think 'Oh, if I crop it like this, it will stand out more, this will be more impactful'. So it's usually, if I'm honest, when looking back at the picture that's taken, that's the first thing I look at – how can this be cropped to make it have the impact that it should really."</p> <p>Zak, who has taken many photos of Prince Harry and Meghan as well as other royal family members agreed and said that the photographers do their best to get the shot right to reduce the need for editing. </p> <p>"You try and get it right first time around when you're taking the picture," he told 9Honey. </p> <p>"Ideally, you don't want to have to do too much to the picture but yeah, it's very basic what we do.</p> <p>"I think cropping is really important because you're trying to find the best version of that picture, so if it means cropping in tighter to make it a nice portrait or keeping it wider to show more in what's going on in the event.</p> <p>"It's pretty basic what we do to the picture because it's all about when you take the picture, you're looking through the viewfinder [and] that's when you want to get it right."</p> <p>The topic of re-touching royal photos sensationally <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/family-pets/princess-kate-sensationally-speaks-out-over-photo-fiasco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made headlines</a> over a manipulated image posted by Kate Middleton, and has now made its way back into the spotlight following the launch of the <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/art/incredible-treasure-trove-of-unseen-royal-images" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new exhibition</a> at The King's Gallery exhibition in the Buckingham Palace.</p> <p>The exhibition which runs until October 6 has noted darkroom techniques including  cropping and framing out backgrounds or brightening up levels in a few of the negatives, including one label that read: "retouching is an essential part of photography.</p> <p>"Analogue retouching can occur at three stages: Modifying the negative, Manipulating the image during printing, direct retouching on the final print."</p> <p><em>Image: 9Honey/ </em><em>Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.</em></p> <p> </p>

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Experience a unique glimpse into the private life of Princess Diana

<p>When you think of the royal family, most people picture their most high profile moments and the same anecdotes that have been recycled for years. </p> <p dir="ltr">But there is much more to them as a family, and as an institution, than meets the eye. </p> <p dir="ltr">For many royal fans, they have their favourite members of the family who they share an unspoken affinity with, and are often yearning to find out more about the princes and princesses. </p> <p dir="ltr">Around the world, there are few members of the royal family who are as fiercely loved as Princess Diana. </p> <p dir="ltr">Now, for the first time in Sydney, royal fanatics can take a never-before-seen look at the emotional private journey of the People’s Princess through the lens of one of her most trusted confidants: official royal photographer Anwar Hussein. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em><a href="https://princessdianaexperience.com/sydney/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Princess Diana: Accredited Access Exhibition</a></em>, launching in Sydney on Wednesday April 10th, reveals the inside look at royal life from Diana’s perspective, while exploring the deep personal relationships between a princess and her photographer. </p> <p dir="ltr">Royal fans will learn about all sides of the late Princess of Wales, from how she portrayed herself in the public eye, to how she interacted with her inner circle behind closed doors. </p> <p dir="ltr">While the one of a kind exhibition covers all things Princess Diana, royal fans will also see the parallels of Anwar’s relationship with Diana, compared to Anwar’s sons, who went on to photograph Diana’s sons Prince William and Prince Harry, and their lasting relationships with the royal family at large. </p> <p dir="ltr">Throughout the exhibit, Anwar Hussein and his sons Samir and Zak, share their first-hand accounts of the stories behind the world-famous moments of Princess Diana and her family, recounting experiences they shared with the royals over their collective four decades working side-by-side with the royal family.</p> <p dir="ltr">Named one of the "Top 12 Immersive Experiences Around the World You Need to Visit” by CNN, the<em> Princess Diana: Accredited Access Exhibition</em> has sold out in Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, and Puerto Rico, and recently wowed audiences in Melbourne. </p> <p dir="ltr">Guests of the <em>Princess Diana: Accredited Access Exhibition</em> will embark on a captivating exploration through various themed sections covering all aspects of royal life, and will be guided by an easy to use audio guide. </p> <p dir="ltr">When arriving at the exhibit (which is housed in an accessible building for those with mobility issues), guests will be instructed to download an audio guide on their smartphone, letting guests move through the exhibition at their own pace. </p> <p dir="ltr">After being provided headphones, guests control the easy to use audio guide at their own speed, with each photograph corresponding to a number on the guide where the audience can learn the inside story behind each captured moment. </p> <p dir="ltr">If guests are hard of hearing, fear not. Each part of the audio guide also features the written script of the Hussein’s commentary, making sure visitors don’t miss any vital information.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2024/04/Diana-instructions.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr">Working your way through the exhibit can take anywhere up to one hour, with royal fans bound to leave with a new sense of connection and understanding to princess Diana’s private life, and the royal family at large. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Princess Diana: Accredited Access Exhibition</em>, presented by leading entertainment discovery platform<a href="http://feverup.com/sydney" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Fever</a>, in partnership with global entertainment agency, SBX Group is a family-friendly experience that will leave visitors with a new perspective on royal life. </p> <p dir="ltr">Sessions run from 9am to 3pm on Wednesday to Friday, and 9am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday, with the exhibition running until the end of May 2024. </p> <p dir="ltr">This is not a story you have heard before. Whether you are a hard-core fan or new to her legacy, you will be blown away by the fascinating depth and detail shared by the Hussein family.</p> <p dir="ltr">To purchase tickets, head to<a href="http://princessdianaexperience.com/sydney" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> princessdianaexperience.com/sydney</a>, to not miss out on this incredibly unique insight into the behind the scenes world of the royal family. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Supplied</em></p>

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Rare, unseen Beatles pics released ahead of landmark exhibition

<p dir="ltr">On Thursday, The UK's National Portrait Gallery unveiled five photos from Paul McCartney’s personal archives, teasing a series of unseen photographs of Beatlemania through his own eyes.</p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition, "Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes Of The Storm”, will run for three months from the 28th of June and is set to showcase what McCartney calls a "humbling yet also astonishing" experience.</p> <p dir="ltr">McCartney approached the gallery in 2020, after stumbling across the images taken on his Pentax camera, which he thought were lost.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Looking at these photos now, decades after they were taken, I find there's a sort of innocence about them," he said..</p> <p dir="ltr">"Everything was new to us at this point. But I like to think I wouldn't take them any differently today.</p> <p dir="ltr">"They now bring back so many stories, a flood of special memories, which is one of the many reasons I love them all, and know that they will always fire my imagination," he added.</p> <p dir="ltr">The images include black-and-white self-portraits shot in a mirror in Paris, John Lennon also in the City of Love, George Harrison in Miami Beach, and Ringo Starr in London.</p> <p dir="ltr">These are five out of the 250 images shot by McCartney between November 1963 and February 1964, and the exhibition will feature in the London gallery's reopening after three years of refurbishments.</p> <p dir="ltr">An accompanying book of photographs and reflections will also be published on June 13.</p> <p dir="ltr">Click <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/unseen-mccartney-photos-beatles-early-230100596.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> to see the five recently released images.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: 1964 Paul McCartney / National Portrait Gallery</em></p>

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Clothes women wanted to wear: a new exhibition explores how Carla Zampatti saw her designs as a tracker of feminism

<p>The late Carla Zampatti is celebrated in a splendid retrospective Zampatti Powerhouse at the Powerhouse Museum. Planned well before the fashion designer’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-carla-zampatti-pioneered-wearable-yet-cosmopolitan-clothes-for-women-and-became-a-fashion-icon-158377">untimely death</a> last year, the unveiling of her legacy will be bittersweet to her many fans. </p> <p>Zampatti is often referred to as “Carla” by friends and those who worked for her, rather than her brand name, Carla Zampatti. Here, the simple name “Zampatti” removes the emphasis from Zampatti as designer to a simpler assertion: businesswoman, mother, philanthropist-entrepreneur. </p> <p>It is a move as deft and elegant as the rest of the exhibition choices. </p> <p>In one of the best-looking fashion exhibition designs Australia has seen, creative director Tony Assness serves up a dynamic vision of clothes punctuated by a vibrant red (one of Zampatti’s favourite design choices) that encourages excitement and discovery. Clothes are arranged by themes – jumpsuit, jungle, graphic, blouson, power – rather than date.</p> <p>Curator Roger Leong leverages his years of experience to do a relatively new thing for Australian museums: tell the stories of clothes through the stories of women who wore them.</p> <h2>A migrant story</h2> <p>Zampatti’s story is an Australian migrant story. Born Maria Zampatti in Italy in 1938 (not 1942, as is often believed), she did not meet her father, who had migrated to Fremantle, until she was 11. </p> <p>In Australia, she was forced to change her name to Mary. It was claimed the other kids could not pronounce Maria. She did not finish school. When she moved to Sydney in her late 20s, she reinvented herself as Carla.</p> <p>The fashion business started on a kitchen table in 1965 under the label ZamPAtti. By 1970, Carla had bought out her business partner husband, and was sole owner of Carla Zampatti Pty Ltd. </p> <p>Zampatti flourished in fashion. She had a finger on the pulse, was in the right place at the right time, and knew a more glamorous role was possible for a fashion designer than the industry “rag trader”.</p> <p>In the 1970s, the markets suggested that the ultra-expensive haute couture was about to disappear, to be replaced by informal ranges created by a new type of designer often called a “stylist”. It was the decade of flower power, retro dressing and ethnic borrowings.</p> <p>Until the 1960s, fashion had been dominated by the rise of haute couture and the “dictator-designer” system – mainly men who determined hem lengths and silhouettes for women. But in 1973, the French body governing high fashion added a new layer of designers, créateurs (literally “creators” or designers), who produced only ready-to-wear. </p> <p>In 1972 Zampatti opened her first Sydney boutique, inspired by informal shops she had seen in St Tropez. Zampatti offered women bright jumpsuits, art deco looks and peasant-inspired ease.</p> <p>She aimed to provide women clothes they wanted to wear. She draped the cloth and colours on herself. Like many women designers historically, she was alert to how her clothes made women customers look and feel. Zampatti remained the fit model for the whole range and would not produce anything in which she did not look and feel well. </p> <p>Zampatti saw her “clothes as a tracker of feminism”.</p> <p>The 1980s cemented Zampatti’s rise to prominence. She became a household name, even designing a car for women. In this time, personal expression became more important than unified looks dictated by designers. Zampatti’s Australian designing coincided with a new development in Italy: the stylisti. Small, focused family businesses alert to the zeitgeist and understanding quality flourished. It was an approach that emphasised quality and glamour. </p> <p>Zampatti identified talent. She employed well-known couturier Beril Jents on the shop floor after she had fallen on hard times. She then employed Jents to improve the cut of her designs. </p> <p>Zampatti continued to embrace the services of stylists and other designers including Romance was Born, whom she recognised could take her work to the next level.</p> <h2>The stories of clothes</h2> <p>Worn equally by politicians and their circles on the right and the left, Zampatti injected more than power dressing into women’s wardrobes. She inspired a sense that women wore the clothes, not the clothes them. </p> <p>In this exhibition we are given many examples, from Linda Burney’s red pantsuit worn for her parliamentary portrait to a gown worn by Jennifer Morrison to the White House.</p> <p>The exhibition viewer can turn from serried ranks of brilliantly styled mannequins and enter large “listening pods”, screening brilliantly edited videos in the manner of artist Bill Viola. The women, who include Dame Quentin Bryce and Ita Buttrose, discuss the creative mind of Zampatti or reflect on their own Zampatti wardrobe. They are amongst the best such “talking heads” I have seen in a museum.</p> <p>Like many designers, Zampatti was not that interested in her own past. She did not keep substantial archives and records, which is a testament to the skills demonstrated by the museum in bringing us this show. </p> <p>Zampatti never turned her back on her personal story, but she was a futurist, one who looked forward rather than backward.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/clothes-women-wanted-to-wear-a-new-exhibition-explores-how-carla-zampatti-saw-her-designs-as-a-tracker-of-feminism-194040" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Beauty & Style

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How a man used a cancer diagnosis to explore his artistic talents

<p dir="ltr">A 70-year-old has spent seven years discovering his artistic talents, after a shock cancer diagnosis forced him into early retirement. </p> <p dir="ltr">Michael Kiely, from the NSW central west, found his love of painting when he was 63, despite struggling to keep the brush steady after living with Parkinson’s disease for 20 years. </p> <p dir="ltr">He didn’t let his ailments stop him, instead using art as a form of therapy to come to terms with his health issues. </p> <p dir="ltr">After a second cancer diagnosis in which he was given just three months to live, the former farmer decided he needed to host an art exhibition. </p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition, which has been cheekily called <a href="https://www.mykidscoulddothat.com/shop">My Kids Could Do That</a>, will be held in Sydney’s Circular Quay on October 30th. </p> <p dir="ltr">He told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/real-life/article-11334375/Artist-reveals-turned-art-stage-four-cancer-diagnosis.html">Daily Mail Australia</a>, “I paint every day - if I stop it feels like I am going to explode, but I still feel like a fraud.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I am amazed when regular people come up to me and tell me they like my paintings. It means more than when they say it, because regular people can't afford to buy them unless they do like them,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">As Michael came to terms with his illness, by spending time on his artworks, he was able to embrace his life-long love of creativity.  </p> <p dir="ltr">“I hadn't painted since I was nine years old. But when I got cancer (the first time) and my wife and I decided I should retire I started again,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“When it is working for you then painting is like breathing. When it isn't, it is frustrating - but I find you can only come back to a work a few times before you lose it, then it is for the bin,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Now fulfilling his dream of putting on an exhibition, Michael is focusing on how lucky he feels to be alive to see it. </p> <p dir="ltr">Thanks to experimental immunology, it's been three years since his devastating three-month diagnosis.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He spent two years doing the treatments, and saw his oncologist recently who is really impressed with how things are,” Michael’s daughter Jessica said.</p> <p dir="ltr">While Michael admits he doesn’t understand much about art, including what makes artists popular, he hopes his unique style will strike a chord. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Do yourself and an old man a favour, buy my art before I die. I want to see these pieces going home with people. And just think, as soon as I cark it, they all become limited editions,” he said. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Supplied</em></p>

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Crown Princess Mary’s iconic Carla Zampatti gown is coming to Australia

<p dir="ltr">A gown worn by Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary will be headng Down Under to go on display in an exhibition of late Australian designer Carla Zampatti’s life and work.</p> <p dir="ltr">The dusty pink brocade gown worn by the Australian-born royal for a set of official portraits in 2015 will be among over 100 designs Zampatti created over her 50-year career on display at <em>Zampatti Powerhouse</em> at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum from November 24.</p> <p dir="ltr">Other items in the exhibition will include personal items from Zampatti’s estate and even clothes borrowed from members of the public from earlier on in her design career.</p> <p dir="ltr">The gown, originally commissioned for the 2013 80th anniversary cover shoot for <em>The Australian Women’s Weekly</em>, was accessorised with historic Danish jewels in the 2015 photographs, taken at Frederick VIII’s Palace in Copenhagen.</p> <p dir="ltr">Known as the Queen Ingrid Ruby parure, the jewels include a tiara, necklace, earrings, bracelet, brooches, hair clips, and a ring, and have become the most-worn of the Danish royal collection by Mary.</p> <p dir="ltr">"At the end of the (2013) shoot she asked if she could keep the dress [and] I was delighted," Zampatti later told Fairfax Media.</p> <p dir="ltr">"She looks so beautifully regal in their 2015 official portraits. I am so proud.</p> <p dir="ltr">"When I was asked to design a gown for Princess Mary, I was thrilled. She is such a beautiful representation for this country."</p> <p dir="ltr">But Mary’s gown isn’t the only iconic garment to be included in <em>Zampatti Powerhouse</em>, with the jacket worn by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard during her 2011 US Congress address, the white jacket Christine Holgate wore while speaking at the Australia Post Inquiry, and Tina Arena’s jumpsuit that was fitted for her induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame also set to appear in the free exhibition.</p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition is said to be the first international retrospective exhibition of Zampatti’s work, over a year after she died at the age of 78 following a fall during an opera in Sydney.</p> <p dir="ltr">Zampatti’s son Alexander, who is the CEO of Carla Zampatti, said it was an “incredible honour” for his mother’s designed to go on display.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It is an incredible honour for Mum’s design legacy to be showcased in a major exhibition at Powerhouse Ultimo,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Mum loved the magic of fashion, the big runway shows as well as hearing her customers’ personal stories and how her designs often played a small part in moments of significance in the lives of many Australian women.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibit will also be accompanied by other events, including an International Women’s Day symposium in March, late-night programs, and the showing of a new performative work by the Sydney Dance Company.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-31d76bb2-7fff-f5b7-cbed-b80831cbaee7"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Frances Voigt, Marinco Kojdanovski (Supplied), Getty Images</em></p>

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Russian guard sentenced after doodling eyes on exhibit painting

<p dir="ltr">A Russian security guard has been found guilty of vandalism after doodling eyes on an abstract painting by avant-garde artist Anna Leporskaya last December.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to the <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/08/29/russian-museum-guard-yeltsin-centre-doodles-sentenced">Art Newspaper</a>, he must serve 180 hours of “compulsory labour” and undergo “psychiatric evaluation”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The painting, titled <em>Three Figures</em> (1932–34), was on loan to the Yeltsin Centre from Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery and valued at 75 million rubles (US$1.2 million).</p> <p dir="ltr">News of the vandalism broke when visitors alerted gallery staff of two crude eyes drawn on the painting’s faceless figures in a ballpoint pen. </p> <p dir="ltr">A police investigation revealed the culprit was 64-year-old Aleksandr Vasiliev, a security guard employed by a private company who was on his first day on the job. </p> <p dir="ltr">After the damage was deemed “insignificant”, it was restored and has since been returned to the Tretyakov Gallery. </p> <p dir="ltr">Vasiliev’s lawyer, Aleskei Bushmakov, shared a letter on his Facebook page that he sent to Zelfira Tregulova, the general director of the Tretyakov Gallery.</p> <p dir="ltr">He wrote that “taking into account the circumstances of the criminal case, the damage inflicted to the painting <em>Three Figures</em>” and “the high level of public attention in connection with the incident,” the museum considered closing the case “via reconciliation” but ultimately decided that it “does not regard it as possible to take such an appeal to the magistrate.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In an interview with Russian news site E1, Vasiliev said he believed the 20th-century work by Leporskaya was a “children’s drawing” and claimed he was goaded by teenagers to deface it.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m a fool, what have I done,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: State Tretyakov Gallery / The Art Newspaper Russia</em></p>

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Johnny Depp makes over $5 million in art sales

<p dir="ltr">Johnny Depp has made over $5 million in just a few hours through the sale of his debut art collection.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Hollywood actor sold 780 prints through Castle Fine Art's 37 galleries within hours of announcing the sale on Instagram.</p> <p dir="ltr">The <em>Friends And Heroes</em> collection depicts famous people who have inspired him, including Rolling Stone Keith Richards and Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I've always used art to express my feelings," the 59-year-old said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"My paintings surround my life, but I kept them to myself and limited myself. No one should ever limit themselves."</p> <p dir="ltr">Depp said he used his art, which also depicted actor Al Pacino and folk legend Bob Dylan, to "reflect on those who matter most to me, like my family, friends and people I admire".</p> <p dir="ltr">All 780 artwords sold within hours after the sale was announced, with individual images going for almost $7,000, and the complete portfolio of four images selling for just over $26,000.</p> <p dir="ltr">Depp's post on Instagram, captioned only "NOW AT #CASTLEFINEART", prompted a rush of traffic to the gallery's website causing it to crash within minutes.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a press release, the gallery described the actor's work as existing "at the intersection of pop art and street art" and as "pop art with feeling".</p> <p dir="ltr">The gallery had long been in talks with Mr Depp about staging an exhibition and sale of his work, and expects to host more of it in the future.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Galleries continue to erase women artists in their blockbuster exhibitions

<p>The National Gallery recently <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/press-and-media/press-releases/after-impressionism">announced</a> its summer 2023 exhibition, After Impressionism, claiming the show will celebrate the “towering achievements of Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gaugin and Rodin” among others. The <a href="https://twitter.com/NationalGallery/status/1528729976542986242">response on social media</a> to this announcement was largely, “where are the women?”</p> <p>Some on Twitter offered suggestions of women who should be included in the exhibition, including Suzanne Valadon, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter and Sonia Delaunay, to name just a few. The National Gallery <a href="https://twitter.com/NationalGallery/status/1529758889150930944">tweeted</a> the same text to several of these replies: “We have announced a small number of confirmed loans to the exhibition. This includes Camille Claudel’s Imploration. We will share more loans, including major works by women artists, closer to the opening.” </p> <p>While it remains to be seen what these works will be, it is clear they are not considered integral to the show, or a significant draw for the public, by the gallery. If they were, they would have been mentioned front and centre in the press release. </p> <p>That was accompanied by an image of Cezanne’s <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paul-cezanne-bathers-les-grandes-baigneuses">Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)</a>, which depicts a group of nude women. Clearly in 2022, the easiest way for a woman to get on to the walls of the National Gallery is <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-do-women-have-to-be-naked-to-get-into-the-met-museum-p78793">still</a> by being nude.</p> <p>The National Gallery is somewhat of an outlier among global museums in its continued failure to broaden the narratives it tells through its collection and exhibitions. But its focus on extremely well-known white male artists demonstrates what it considers to be innovative and important – and therefore what it does not. </p> <h2>When women have been blockbusters</h2> <p>The expectation that “blockbuster” shows be about household-name artists is a vicious cycle – artists cannot become household names if they’re not included in big exhibitions. The lack of women in traditional art historical scholarship has led to the belief that there simply weren’t many, or indeed any, important women artists working in Europe in this period, which is entirely false – as the backlash on Twitter highlighted. Yet museums still seem unable to recover them into the canon.</p> <p>The idea that only household names sell tickets has also been repeatedly debunked over the past decade. The best example is New York’s Guggenheim Museum’s 2018 <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/hilma-af-klint">exhibition</a> of the works of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, the first major retrospective of the artist’s works in the US – and the first time most people attending the show had seen or heard of her. The exhibition became the museum’s <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hilma-af-klint-breaks-records-guggenheim-1522192?utm_content=buffer3ce14&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook.com&amp;utm_campaign=news">best-attended show ever</a>.</p> <p>The National Portrait Gallery’s 2019-20 show <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/pre-raphaelite-sisters/exhibition/">Pre-Raphelite Sisters</a> and Madrid’s Museo del Prado’s 2020-21 show <a href="https://www.museodelprado.es/en/whats-on/exhibition/uninvited-guests-episodes-on-women-ideology-and/197d4831-41f1-414d-dbdf-5ffd7be4cc3f">Uninvited Guests: Episodes on Women, Ideology and the Visual Arts in Spain (1833-1931)</a> both foregrounded women in traditionally male art movements and periods. </p> <p>Both were the recipients of <a href="https://www.frieze.com/article/pre-raphaelite-sisters-national-portrait-gallery-review-ode-sisterly-solidarity">some</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/19/prados-first-post-lockdown-show-reignites-debate-over-misogyny">criticism</a>, largely arguing that the curators had not gone far enough in centring work actually made by women, rather than simply depicting them. Both shows, however, represent steps towards imagining new methods of disrupting traditional art history narratives. </p> <h2>Still woefully underrepresented in permanent collections</h2> <p>In the autumn and winter of 2020, the National Gallery hosted its first exhibition headlining a female artist. It was a retrospective of the works of the remarkable Renaissance artist <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/past/artemisia">Artemisia Gentileschi</a>, one of the few women whose work is held in the gallery’s permanent collection. </p> <p>Women artists are woefully underrepresented in the permanent collections of major museums around the world – these are the works of art that are owned by museums and hung on the walls year-round, not just during special exhibitions.</p> <p>The National Gallery, which boasts a collection of more than 2,000 works, owns only <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/31/female-artists-are-finally-in-our-galleries-lets-keep-them-there">24 works</a> by women, representing just <a href="https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-eight-women-artists-of-the-national-gallery">eight</a> women artists. While this ratio is remarkably bad, the National Gallery is not alone in having a profound imbalance. </p> <p>The arts publications Artnet and arts podcast In Other Words partnered in 2019 to <a href="https://news.artnet.com/womens-place-in-the-art-world/visualizing-the-numbers-see-infographics-1654084">analyse</a> the representation of women in the collections of American museums. They found that between 2008 and 2018, just 14% of work in museum exhibitions was by women and just 11% of museum acquisitions were works by women. These acquisitions and exhibitions are heavily skewed towards modern and contemporary art. </p> <p>Women artists working before 1900 are far less represented in museum collections. In some cases, their works are in smaller museums or in private collections and, in others, they are untraced or lost. This makes including their work in exhibitions more difficult because it can be harder to find.</p> <p>Yet despite the fact that women’s work has been less reliably preserved throughout history, a great deal of it still exists. Museums that hide behind the excuse of a “lack” of work by women are perpetuating a lie that has been debunked by innumerable feminist art historians since Linda Nochlin’s famous 1971 essay, <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/">Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?</a></p> <p>Writing in 2015, art historian Griselda Pollock <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-national-gallery-is-erasing-women-from-the-history-of-art-42505">explained</a> evidence of women artists is “there in black and white” in exhibition and sales records in the 19th century. “This is the primary evidence. It cannot be contradicted. But it has been consistently ignored by 20th-century art historians and 21st-century museum curators.”</p> <p>The National Gallery’s continued reliance on outdated art history is a failure of its duty as a steward of the British public’s art collection. Museums, particularly those like the National Gallery which receive significant public funds, have the responsibility to accurately communicate the history and relevance of the objects they own. They should also continue to innovate and respond to cultural changes. </p> <p>A museum whose collection is less than 1% female is hardly representative of a country whose population is 50% female. Nor is it representative of a history of art which, while still not offering equal opportunities for men and women, certainly fostered an abundance of pioneering women artists.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/galleries-continue-to-erase-women-artists-in-their-blockbuster-exhibitions-184988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

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Elvis at the movies

<p>‘The movies’ have always been part of Elvis’s story. The drama and beauty of the golden age of American cinema shaped young Elvis’s creative talent and sense of style, Hollywood became the focus of his own stellar career for a decade, and since his early death in 1977, Elvis has been brought to life on screen many times, most spectacularly this year with the release of Baz Luhrmann’s much anticipated biopic <em>Elvis</em>.</p> <p>Elvis was born in the wake of the Great Depression, on 8 January 1935, to adoring parents Vernon and Gladys. Growing up in rural Mississippi, in a railroad town named Tupelo, Elvis didn’t have much money to play with – but he and best friend Sam Bell made their own fun by sneaking into the movies at Tupelo’s Lyric Theatre. Bell has described the Lyric in the days of segregation laws, when the balcony seating was partitioned into Black and white sections. Elvis and Sam would sneak through the separate entrances and once inside, Elvis would “climb on over” so the boys could sit together and share their “ten cent popcorn”, sitting in the aisle watching Westerns. (Sam Bell interviewed in 2016.)</p> <p>One of Elvis’s earliest teenage jobs was ushering in Loew’s State Theatre, in 1950 and again in 1951, in Memphis. The little Presley family made the move to Memphis, a cosmopolitan Southern city bustling with post-war industry and a vibrant cultural scene, when Elvis was 13 years old. Elvis studied the faces and expressions of 1950s screen idols such as Tony Curtis and Marlon Brando, observing not only their methods of conveying emotion and connecting with audience, but also their distinctive fashion and 1950s brand of masculine beauty.</p> <p>Fresh out of high school, in mid-1954 Elvis had his first hit single with ‘That’s All Right’ on the innovative Memphis label Sun Records. He soon caught the attention of a canny talent manager known as ‘the Colonel’ Tom Parker. Parker moved swiftly to take control of Elvis’s blossoming career and brokered the sale of his contract to major label RCA Victor in November 1955. By March 1956, Parker had Elvis in Hollywood screen-testing for powerhouse Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis. Elvis had already appeared on The Dorsey Brother’s (television) <em>Stage Show</em> six times by this stage (he would go on to do a further five appearances in 1956 alone, on shows hosted by Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Ed Sullivan). As Wallis’s Paramount colleague Allan Weiss put it: “We had all seen him on television, the swivelling hips below the bottom of the screen, unseen. But it wasn’t just sex; it was an indefinable energy that transcended that. The question was, would it show on film?”</p> <p>Elvis had been sent a script for <em>The Rainmaker</em>, in production at Paramount with Burt Lancaster and Katherine Hepburn. He performed two short scenes, and also lip-synched a performance of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ for the screentest. Weiss got the answer to his question: “We knew instantly that we were in the presence of a phenomenon; electricity bounced off the walls of the sound stage.” Elvis was “absolute dynamite”.</p> <p>Paramount signed Elvis for a multi-picture deal immediately, despite not yet having a script ready. Parker had negotiated in the contract that Elvis do one film a year with another studio – this clause was utilised straight away to enable Elvis to get started on a film with 20th Century Fox while Paramount prepared a script.</p> <p><em>Love Me Tender </em>was released just eight months after those first Hollywood meetings. The film was a civil war era drama, in which Elvis plays honourable and guileless Clint Reno, caught in a complicated love triangle with his young bride (played by Debra Paget) and his older brother Vance (played by Richard Egan). At the end of the film, Clint is killed in a dramatic shootout. This ending, however, was so displeasing to young audiences in test screenings that the studio was forced to ‘bring back’ Elvis, awkwardly superimposing him singing the title song over the final scene. In a private screening held the day before the film’s public release, at Elvis’s former place of employment, Loew’s State Theatre in Memphis, Gladys cried at her son’s death scene.</p> <p>Elvis aspired to become a serious dramatic actor, he is said to have known all the dialogue from the generation-defining hit film <em>Rebel Without a Cause (1955)</em>. From the very beginning though, music was deemed essential to any production designed around the young superstar.</p> <p>Even despite a substantial period of pause during his Army service (approximately March 1958 – March 1960), Elvis pumped out an astonishing 31 features between 1956 and 1969. Certain early films stand out for their relatively high quality. <em>King Creole (1958)</em> for example is one of his most critically admired films, directed by legendary Hungarian-American auteur Michael Curtiz of <em>Casablanca (1942)</em> fame. The film is set in the nightclubs and back alleys of New Orleans, as Elvis’s hot-headed Danny Fisher grapples with the temptations of organised crime and a droll temptress played by Carolyn Jones. The excellent soundtrack features skilled song-writing duo Leiber and Stoller, including an evocative title song and a sultry number titled ‘Trouble’, reprised by Elvis for his ground-breaking 1968 NBC television special.</p> <p>Throughout the 1960s, Elvis became disillusioned with his career in Hollywood. Always the professional, he fulfilled relentless contracts and was described as a good worker on set, but privately he was embarrassed by the increasingly flimsy and formulaic quality of his films, and the hastily produced soundtrack albums. In a rare candid interview during filming for the 1972 documentary <em>Elvis On Tour</em>, he explained:</p> <blockquote> <p>“Hollywood’s image of me was wrong and I knew it. And I couldn’t say anything about it, couldn’t do anything about it. I’d be right into production, I’d be doing a lot of pictures close together – and the pictures got very similar… you know, if something was successful, they’d try to recreate it the next time around. So I’d read the first four or five pages and I knew that it was just a different name, with 12 new songs in it. The songs were mediocre in most cases… But I was never indifferent, I was so concerned…. It worried me sick.”</p> </blockquote> <p>In 1968, his smash hit television special today known as the ’68 Comeback Special reignited his passion for live music performance and gave him a pathway out of Hollywood and onto the stages of Las Vegas.  In 1970 and 1972, two innovative music documentaries captured the re-energised Elvis in this second phase of his career as a stage musician: <em>That’s the Way It Is (1970)</em> and <em>Elvis On Tour (1972)</em>.  These films still sparkle today as dynamic examples of music documentary making, and the glamour and excitement of 1970s Las Vegas.</p> <p>In recent decades, many actors have attempted to emulate ‘The King’ on screen, including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, and a fan favourite, Kurt Russell. (Fun fact: a 12-year-old Russell appears in the 1963 romance <em>It Happened at the World’s Fair </em>– he kicks Elvis in the shin in his scene!) Almost half a century on from Elvis’s death, fans around the world nervously await their chance to watch Austin Butler’s portrayal of Elvis, which has already been given a glowing review by the people who knew Elvis best, his former wife Priscilla and daughter Lisa Marie, who tweeted: “Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father’s heart & soul beautifully”.</p> <p>For more information on the Elvis: Direct from Graceland exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery (19 March – 17 July 2022), <a href="https://www.bendigoregion.com.au/bendigo-art-gallery/exhibitions/elvis-direct-from-graceland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>.</p> <p><em><strong>This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with the <a href="https://www.bendigoregion.com.au/bendigo-art-gallery/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bendigo Art Gallery</a>.</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/culture/elvis-at-the-movies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>.</strong></em></p> <p><em>Images: Bendigo Art Gallery</em></p>

Movies

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New Air NZ exhibit celebrates Māori culture

<p dir="ltr">A new exhibition promises to take visitors through the skies of New Zealand by combining virtual reality with the real world.</p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition, launched by Air New Zealand, sees a virtual version of Pou Tikanga, Pou Pūrākau (cultural leader, storyteller) Joe Harawira take guests through the story of Matariki, the celebration of the Māori new year.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Attendees will board the waka rererangi (canoe in the sky) to visit the Guardians Tanē Mahuta (forest), Tangaroa (sea), Papatūānuku (land), and Ranginui (sky) to experience the Matariki story, all without moving an inch,” Air New Zealand Senior Cultural Development Manager Jahmaine Cummings-Hodge said in a <a href="https://www.airnewzealand.com.au/join-araraurangi-air-new-zealand-in-the-waka-rererangi-for-a-matariki-journey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">"A full 3D virtual version of Joe has been created which appears in the experience at a human scale. We have also replicated the carved waka in its entirety digitally using similar techniques, mimicking intricate carvings and textures."</p> <p dir="ltr">A combination of facial motion capture, photogrammetry, and scanning techniques was used to bring the virtual versions of Joe and the waka to life, which can be viewed using Magic Leap headsets.</p> <p dir="ltr">The technology used by Magic Leap layers digital objects onto the real world, meaning that light enters the eye just like it would if a real object were being viewed.</p> <p dir="ltr">The virtual reality experience comes after the airline worked with Harawira for a new safety video celebrating Māori culture, released in May this year, and as part of the company’s efforts to support te ao Māori (the Māori worldview).</p> <p dir="ltr">"As the national carrier, Air New Zealand has a responsibility to demonstrate an authentic and holistic support of Māori culture,” Cummings-Hodge said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The experience, launched at the Canterbury Museum on June 18-19, will be live at Te Puia in Rotorua from June 22.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-73e10ed5-7fff-2715-1fe5-c9fa598026d9"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @canterburymuseum (Instagram)</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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Elvis takes centre-stage in unlikely destination

<p dir="ltr">A blockbuster exhibition of all things Elvis Presley is taking over the regional Victorian city of Bendigo, with over 30 activities featuring across the four month celebration.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e2855737-7fff-6496-3e4e-e95a964df353"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Elvis: Direct From Graceland has taken over Bendigo Art Gallery displaying about 300 personal items on loan from Graceland, Memphis, including Presley’s military uniforms, jumpsuits, his wedding suit and Priscilla’s wedding gown and veil, and their daughter’s toys.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbWu5Y4twRG/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbWu5Y4twRG/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Bendigo Art Gallery (@bendigoartgallery)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Even the King’s vehicles have made the journey, with his custom Harley Davidson and the red convertible from the film Blue Hawaii - the only car Elvis actually owned from his movies - included in the display.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-72aa5824-7fff-8be8-fb5d-2fbc697e22e9"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">One room is dedicated entirely to his outfits, including the one he wore to meet President Nixon, an array of his bedazzled Vegas suits, and casual off-stage outfits.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/elvis-bendigo1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Elvis’ personal items, including an array of his dazzling suits, are also on display. Image: @bendigoartgallery (Instagram)</em></p> <p dir="ltr">But, the Elvis-themed festivities extend beyond the gallery, with appropriately themed cuisine appearing in the local restaurants and Bendigo Central’s chocolatier.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ca309c2b-7fff-9f96-9a2a-9c3b3279d53b"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Hustler, Bendigo’s modern American diner, has added two burgers to its menu: the Burning Love burger and the Fool’s Goldburger, featuring a 150g beef patty, crisps, peanut butter and raspberry jelly between a doughnut bun.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbcDAGZrZrJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbcDAGZrZrJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Hustler (@hustlerbendigo)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-45413cd0-7fff-ddd8-6e60-edc664959410"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Another highlight is the Shake, Rattle and Roll tram, a moving bar operating every weekend and offering Love Me Tender cocktails to sip on as you trundle along the picturesque cityscape with a soundtrack of Elvis classics.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/elvis-bendigo2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The Shake, Rattle and Roll tram makes its way through the city streets every weekend. Image: Supplied</em></p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1b8d5a86-7fff-f037-f508-14530678ffbd"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The conservatory in Rosalind Park has also been transformed to include interactive displays that pay homage to Elvis’ favourite hangouts, while performers and screening of Elvis movies descend on Hargreaves Mall.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/elvis-bendigo3.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Elvis’ wedding suit and Priscilla Presley’s gown on display at the gallery. Image: @bendigoartgallery (Instagram)</em></p> <p dir="ltr">So whether you’re a die hard Elvis fan or are looking for a unique weekend away, Bendigo will be the place to head to until July 17, when the King heads home once again.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-299505cc-7fff-311f-0183-65dc7bbcb0d2"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @bendigoartgallery (Instagram)</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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Salvador Dali exhibition heads to New Zealand

<p dir="ltr">The works of surrealist artist Salvador Dali are the subject of a new multimedia exhibition headed for Auckland and Christchurch that promises to wow art connoisseurs and first-timers alike.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9847cd07-7fff-bb62-5654-0c315ef447f7">Inside Dali comes from the same team behind last year’s Van Gogh Alive exhibition which has appeared in capital cities across New Zealand and Australia over the past year, per <em><a href="https://concreteplayground.com/auckland/arts-entertainment/a-breathtaking-multimedia-exhibition-of-salvadore-dalis-work-is-coming-to-new-zealand-this-year-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Concrete Playground</a></em>.</span></p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb_QyP0P_cQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb_QyP0P_cQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Inside Dalí NZ (@insidedalinz)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition, which comes directly from its current home in Florence, promises to take visitors on a chronological trip through Dali’s life through floor-to-ceiling moving images, real-life objects, and interviews.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-cbe122c3-7fff-d3fa-5a2e-627878e5106a"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">There are five rooms to explore, including the celebration of Dante’s Inferno in the Divine Comedy Room with 100 colourful wooden engravings of the epic poem, and a surreal 360-degree mirror room where you’ll be surrounded by moving imagery of his masterpieces.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb8fMVkLClF/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb8fMVkLClF/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Inside Dalí NZ (@insidedalinz)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The exhibit is expected to <a href="https://blog.ticketmaster.co.nz/arts-attractions/inside-dali-new-zealand-3011" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open</a> first in Auckland from May 28 until June 30, before it takes up residence at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand in Christchurch from July 11.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-783a0a79-7fff-f03a-ff4e-376cdf0b7264"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Ticketmaster</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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British Museum unveils female spiritual beings exhibit

<p dir="ltr">A unique exhibition is set to open at the British Museum later this year that celebrates how femininity has been perceived across the globe through history. </p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibit, titled <em>Feminine power: the divine to the demonic</em>, is the first of its kind to be showcased in the British museum. </p> <p dir="ltr">The figures on display range from a Hindu goddess considered the master of death, to a magical Greek enchantress, as the exhibit explores women in both world belief and mythological traditions. </p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition includes representations of Lilieth, a character from Jewish mythology thought to be the first wife of Adam and later the consort of Satan, as well as Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of mercy.  </p> <p dir="ltr">The idea behind the exhibit is to bring together ancient sculptures, sacred artefacts and contemporary art from six continents to explore how femininity has been portrayed, and how it influenced the way we view women and their power today. </p> <p dir="ltr">For the first time, the British Museum has invited special guest contributors to respond to the themes in the exhibition, sharing their personal and professional viewpoints.</p> <p dir="ltr">The special guests include doctors, professors, activists, authors, lawyers and former members of the British Army, who will share their own stories of feminism, and how they have fought for the rights of women. </p> <p dir="ltr">Muriel Gray, Deputy Chair of Trustees of the British Museum, said, “The Citi exhibition <em>Feminine power: the divine to the demonic</em> is brimming with magic, wisdom, fury and passion.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I am very proud that through the breadth and depth of the British Museum's collection, alongside special loans, we can tell such powerful and universal stories of faith and femininity from the most ancient cultures to living traditions around the world.</p> <p dir="ltr">Following the display at the British Museum, the exhibition will be seen internationally, starting at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: The Trustees of the British Museum</em></p>

Art

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Never-before-seen portrait of Diana goes on display

<p dir="ltr">A previously unseen portrait of Princess Diana is set to <a href="https://honey.nine.com.au/royals/unseen-portrait-of-princess-diana-revealed-for-life-through-royal-lens-exhibition/9cedcc32-1f96-4060-b855-fedad3546d0c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">go on display</a> for the first time at a new exhibition in her former home of Kensington Palace.</p> <p dir="ltr">The photo, taken in 1988 by minimalist photographer David Bailey, reveals a different side to Diana.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b3dc988f-7fff-dc55-38d4-15c0e7f308ea"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Claudia Acott Williams, the curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said the image was one of several taken during the sitting, which was kept by Bailey while the rest were shown at the National Portrait Gallery.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cab7ZAAoRnr/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cab7ZAAoRnr/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Historic Royal Palaces (@historicroyalpalaces)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“For me, this is the most powerful of all the pictures in that sitting,” Ms Williams told <em>The Telegraph</em> UK.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Here, she’s retreating from the camera a bit, she looks stoic. It’s doing something very different.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The photograph is a late addition to the exhibition <em><a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/whats-on/life-through-a-royal-lens/#gs.rgro6r" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Life Through a Royal Lens</a></em>, which features some of the most iconic images taken of the British royals.</p> <p dir="ltr">It was loaned to the exhibition by the digital Princess Diana Museum with Bailey’s agreement.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0c93fe6f-7fff-f554-4dd0-938d42e4b420"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Other never-before-seen images include one of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh laughing together during their 70th wedding anniversary photo shoot in 2017, which was considered too intimate and informal to be released as an official portrait.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNen0VzA5I_/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNen0VzA5I_/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Matt Holyoak Photographer (@mattholyoak)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“I think this speaks to their relationship with each other,” Ms Williams said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is them as a married couple, as husband and wife, not just monarch and consort.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s such a subtle difference from the existing photographs and yet it tells us a different story, the chemistry between these two as long into their marriage as it was.”</p> <p dir="ltr">A photo considered to be the earliest surviving image of a royal family member will also be on display, taken by William Constable in March 1842 of Prince Albert.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-60ea9130-7fff-0e62-7d58-f21e682562a1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">More intimate shots of Queen Elizabeth II and her children will be on display as well, along with photos of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis taken by the Duchess of Cambridge.</p> <p><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fkensingtonpalace%2Fposts%2F5032744336748945&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="754" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr">50 photographs taken by members of the public, including one of Diana from her 1993 visit to Hinde Street Church, round out the exhibition, which opens on Friday, March 4.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-59178110-7fff-299d-c273-076fcb9e69e1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Kensington Palace</em></p>

Beauty & Style

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Exquisite new portrait of Crown Princess Mary unveiled

<p>Crown Princess Mary has brought her family along to open a very special exhibition that will give fans of the royal an unprecedented look into her life so far.</p><p>Mary, who will celebrate her 50th birthday on the 5th of February, unveiled a new portrait of herself that took her husband's breath away.</p><p>As the cover was pulled away and down, revealing the painting, Prince Frederik was heard gushing in amazement.</p><p>The portrait is now on display at the National History Museum at Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, north of Copenhagen, and was created by Spanish-born artist Jesús Herrera Martínez. It contains a subtle tribute to Australia, where Mary was born in 1972.</p><p>The painting was staged in the Crown Princess' study inside her home in Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg. Painted on the wall behind her is a shadow of a eucalyptus tree which is native to Australia.</p><p>On Mary's right hand is her aquamarine cocktail ring, rumoured to have been given to her, along with a pearl choker and earrings, upon her engagement to Prince Frederik.</p><p>The portrait was unveiled as part of the opening of the special exhibition 'HRH Crown Princess Mary 1972 - 2022', created for her birthday. Mary was joined by Crown Prince Frederik and three of their four children - Princess Isabella, 14, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, both 11, for the opening.</p><p>As they arrived the bells of the castle played 'Waltzing Matilda' in another special nod to Australia.</p><p>The family toured the display, which tells the story of Mary's life through personal items, photographs, official portraits and clothing. Mementoes from Mary's childhood in Australia are featured, with Mary and her family taking time to look over the items before moving onto the larger display of her gowns.</p><p>Some of Mary's favourite dresses are on show, including her blue sequined Jesper Høvring gown, a grey Prada dress, the tiered gown she wore for Prince Frederik's 50th birthday celebrations and her white frock by Mark Kenly Domino Tan that she wore in Paris in 2019.</p><p>The Crown Princess will celebrate her 50th on February 5 in private gathering after a planned gala dinner at Rosenborg Castle was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>Recently she took Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine to Copenhagen Zoo to launch the expansion of a new exhibit housing Australian animals, called Mary's Australian Garden.</p><p><em>Image: 9News</em></p>

Art

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Prince Charles holds largest exhibit of his watercolours to date

<p dir="ltr">The largest ever exhibition of artworks created by Prince Charles has opened at the Garrison Chapel in Chelsea Barracks, a recently restored chapel in a converted army barracks in London’s Belgravia district.</p> <p dir="ltr">A painting enthusiast, Prince Charles has extolled the benefits of art, saying it “transports me to another dimension”, that painting is "one of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercises I know," and that it "refreshes parts of the soul which other activities can't reach."</p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition contains 79 of the prince’s paintings of landscapes of the French countryside, the Scottish Highlands, and Tanzania, which is one of Charles’ favourite places to paint. He regularly paints the family’s estates, including Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, and has also produced works depicting Turkey, Nepal, and the Swiss Alps.</p> <p dir="ltr">As for why he started painting, Charles said, "I took up painting entirely because I found photography less than satisfying. Quite simply, I experienced an overwhelming urge to express what I saw through the medium of watercolor and to convey that almost 'inner' sense of texture which is impossible to achieve via photography."</p> <p dir="ltr">Like Queen Victoria before him, Charles is a “keen watercolourist” who “paints whenever his schedule allows”. Of his early works, he said, "I am under no illusion that my sketches represent great art or a burgeoning talent! They represent, more than anything else, my particular form of 'photograph album' and, as such, mean a great deal to me."</p> <p dir="ltr">While the prince does not sell his paintings, lithographs of his works are used to raise money for his charity; in 2016, it was reported that he had sold approximately £2 million worth from a shop at his Highgrove House residence. The National Gallery of Australia exhibited several paintings of his in 2018 to mark his 70th birthday.</p> <p dir="ltr">The curator of the exhibition, Rosie Alderton, said that Charles "likes to sit in the actual environment and paint 'en plein air.” She added, “His passion for creating beautiful art is conveyed strongly in this exhibition."</p> <p dir="ltr">In addition to the watercolours, there is a tapestry based on his painting "Abandoned Cottage on the Isle of Stroma” that took weaver Ben Hymers eight months to finish.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images</em></p>

Art

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Queen Elizabeth II’s outfits exhibited in royal residences

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, a trio of her most recognisable outfits will be exhibited in the royal residences. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Royal Collection will showcase the Queen’s outfits from her accession, coronation and jubilees at Windsor castle, Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Among the pieces will be the pink silk crepe and chiffon dress and coat worn by Her Majesty in June 1977 to mark her 25 year reign.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The iconic ensemble was designed by </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">royal couturier Sir Hardy Amies and a matching hat by milliner Simone Mirman. </span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845734/queen-exhibit-silver.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/307f48ed25b24399bfff029341527f20" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Also among the collection will be the Queen’s Coronation Dress and Robe of Estate she wore for her coronation in 1953. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This gown took eight months of research, design, workmanship and intricate embroidery to complete in time for her Majesty’s coronation. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Caroline de Guitaut, curator of the displays, said the collection will showcase timestamps in the monarch’s reign, with royal fans being delighted with the insider look. </span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845732/queen-exhibit-coronation.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f32dc6586af54278b4bc786e87e863c6" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Their historic significance resonates all the more greatly given their depiction of the longest reigning monarch in British history.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Visitors to the exhibitions will also see a rare collection of Her Majesty’s personal jewellery collection that adorned these historical outfits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Among the priceless pieces on show will be the Queen's Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara - an heirloom wedding gift given to her by her grandmother, Queen Mary, when Princess Elizabeth married the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Commonly known as Granny's Tiara, it is one of the Queen's favourite and most treasured pieces and she often wears the glittering headpiece, made of diamonds in a festoon and scroll design, to state banquets.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These exhibits will celebrate the 95-year-old monarch’s 70 year rule, which will be celebrated on February 6th 2022. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Beauty & Style

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White male artists dominate US galleries

<p>The walls of art galleries in the US are hung, almost to the exclusion of all else, with the works of white men.</p> <p>That’s the conclusion of a team of statisticians and art historians, <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/%2010.1371/journal.pone.0212852" target="_blank">published</a> in the journal PLOS One.</p> <p><span>The researchers, led by Chad Topaz from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Williams College in Massachusetts, US, examined the public online catalogues of 18 major US museums and extracted records for 9000 named artists.</span></p> <p>These were then given over to a crowdsourcing platform, and with the help of the many people thereon the majority of the artists were successfully identified and biographies built.</p> <p>“Overall,” the authors report, “we find that 85% of artists are white and 87% are men.”</p> <p>Topaz and colleagues position their work in the context of previous studies that have examined diversity in museum and gallery staff, as well as visitor profiles.</p> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://mellon.org/programs/arts-and-cultural-heritage/art-history-conservation-museums/demographic-survey/" target="_blank">One study</a>, for instance, found that 72% of members of the US Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) identified as white. The same study found that while 60% of museum staff are female, women occupy only 43% of senior positions.</p> <p><span>Other studies have looked at visitors, and identified communities to target through outreach programs in attempts to increase diversity.</span></p> <p>The present work, though, is the first to study diversity among the artists represented.</p> <p>“If museums find knowledge of staff and visitor demographics important for programming decisions,” the authors write, “one might ask if demographics of the artists are important for collection decisions.”</p> <p>They cite “anecdotal evidence” that in the field of contemporary American art some collections are being actively augmented to rectify diversity imbalance, with the welcome effect that “it is now not unusual for these museums to compete with each other for major works of African American art”.</p> <p>However, the big picture – no pun intended – remains overwhelmingly coloured by men who are white.</p> <p>“With respect to gender, our overall pool of individual, identifiable artists across all museums consists of 12.6% women,” the authors report.</p> <p>“With respect to ethnicity, the pool is 85.4% white, 9.0% Asian, 2.8% Hispanic/Latinx, 1.2% Black/African American, and 1.5% other ethnicities.”</p> <p>Introducing greater diversity, however, is perhaps not as difficult as some might imagine.</p> <p>“We find that the relationship between museum collection mission and artist diversity is weak, suggesting that a museum wishing to increase diversity might do so without changing its emphases on specific time periods and regions,” the researchers conclude.</p> <p>They also admit that their analysis is constrained by a couple of limitations. First, a small proportion of artists identified could not be satisfactorily identified by gender or ethnicity. Second, artworks made by more than one artist were not included, and, third, many works of art – those from the Graeco-Roman period, for instance – are not assigned to identifiable individuals.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/society/white-male-artists-dominate-us-gallery-collections/" target="_blank">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Andrew Masterson. </em></p>

Art

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How Dubai is building an art collection without buying any art

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In recent years, Dubai has established a vibrant and unique local arts scene due to their position between Africa, Asia and Europe. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These global cultural influences have seen a boom in the local artists showcasing their works in private galleries all through the capital of the UAE. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Due to this increase of the art scene, the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dubai government is building its first institutional art collection from scratch with a very unique twist. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead of purchasing art for the collections, Dubai will be borrowing pieces to showcase.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The initiative was </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">developed by Dubai Culture &amp; Arts Authority and Art Dubai and will boast a unique digital museum that can be enjoyed by all, as well as annual physical exhibitions of carefully curated works. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">National art collections and museums were made popular during the 19th century in Europe and are typically built over a long period of time, but Dubai’s initiative aims to fast-track the process. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The idea behind the initiative is to promote a collective culture and create a canon of art history that has not been available in the Middle East.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A spokesperson for Art Dubai said this idea is the first of its kind, and is happy to rely on government funding to boost the arts industry. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Contributors are invited to lend their works to the Dubai Collection for a period of 10 years, while remaining legal owners of their pieces."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So far, 87 works have been commissioned during the first curation process: most of them by Emirati artists or artists from the wider Arabic world.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Part of the Dubai Collection initiative is a digital museum, which will allow more people to see the art, and will include educational materials.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This easily accessible digital museum will encourage art lovers to engage with a collection of international pieces, with the aim of highlighting emerging artists and their important stories. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credit: Shutterstock</span></em></p>

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