A trip to Melbourne is rarely complete unless I manage to squeeze in an hour or two at the Art Gallery on St Kilda Road (and Boat Books for the Cap'n). So it was, on the spur of the moment and in the spirit of adventure, we found ourselves in Sydney and on a wonderful January day, down at the Rocks. After browsing markets and galleries galore (and a nice lunch to soften him up) I proposed a tour of the MCA near the Quay. Himself is not known for his interest in contemporary art but agreed. I limbered up, ready for a tour at the speed of light....questions & sarcastic comments only at the end.
 |
I wasn't allowed to brandish my camera about in the MCA.) |
One of the solo exhibitions was by Yinka Shonibare MBE; an amazing body of work that had taken 12 years to complete. Sure makes my 2 or 3 years on a quilt pale into insignificance! Aside from Shonibare's work being interesting because of his "discussion" about colonialism, modern African identity, class structure & social justice (I know this because it's in the exhibition information guide) what took ALL my attention was the wonderful Dutch wax printed cottons. Metres of this wild fabric had gone into the making of clothing in the style true to those fabulous fashionables during the era of the French Revolution. It was like having ice-cream on your toast in the morning! Wow...what a wake-up call.
I finally managed to track down some real Dutch cottons at VLISCO, who also offer them at reasonable lengths (6 yards) at a good price. (Share fat quarters of them among your best quilting buddies!) And they ship home...mmmm. Just try to avoid licking them off your screen. I found many offerings of Chinese cottons too but 10000 metre minimum purchase was just a little too much to consider, even for me.
 |
| Follow the link above to see many, many more of these scrummy prints |
