Cultural pursuits
In the last month, we have sought out some cultural experiences in our city of Melbourne which has a reputation for all things arty.
First was the Salvador Dali ‘Liquid Desire’ exhibition at the NGV which I was disappointed by. I had seen a Dali exhibition in Sydney at the NSW Art Gallery when I was at uni in around 1993 (scary how time passes - was that really 16 years ago? goodness!) and it was mainly his surrealist works which were fascinating. This latest exhibition spans his lifetime showing the development of his style but there are only a few of his well-known surrealist works. I’m sure Dali-ites would find it very interesting but I just didn’t find it as engaging. The most interesting thing I learnt was that he did some work with Alice Cooper! Besides that we had to queue to see each painting due to the crowds and that was painful.
On Sunday we saw a performance by the Australian Chamber Orchestra at Hamer Hall in the Arts Centre. Pieces by Bartok, Strauss and some other less well-known composers were performed. Some of the more modern pieces were verging on manic and very discordant but it was extremely entertaining to watch the musicians play their instruments such as violins with great gusto and vivacity. It felt kind of strange that most of the audience were at least 20 years our senior. I’m not sure why people don’t generally take up listening to classical music at a younger age these days.
Can also recommend an Australian movie we saw recently, Cedar Boys, a story about some young Lebanese men in Western Sydney. Some very interesting observations on racial tensions in Sydney, trying to fit in and the unforeseen consequences of poor decisions. Bit of violence but it’s not over the top like some other movies.
I don’t know if I’ll see any of Dali’s work in Spain which seems to be exhibited in the lesser known galleries. You’re so fortunate to have access to these worthwhile cultural events. Glad that you’re interested in classical concerts. How did it compare with “Iron Maiden”, Andrew??
Enjoy your outings
Yes a bit different to Iron Maiden! Andrew likes classical too though and had more classical CDs than me. Now they’re mine too! hee hee!
Very different to Maiden!
I like quite a bit of classical - Greig, Mussorsky, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven - quite a bit 
Must admit that I was falling asleep during the Strauss though… I actually quite liked the Dali exhibition (even if it was very crouded). I had studied him a bit at school and it was good to see a number of his works in the flesh. I also really enjoyed Cedar Boys - was really quite sad but I liked the way they dealt with the issues. It has been quite a cultural few weeks!