 |
 |
| |
|
| |
Between now and June 1st, Lost and Found will arrive in monthly ‘snapshots’. Through three short sections, images and Guest Editor insights it will create an entry point to the most interesting creative spaces and events in Melbourne. Insider knowledge, underbelly happenings and intimate understanding from creative people who know best. This snapshot’s Guest Editor is Karen Rieschieck: fashion plate, espresso fan,
lady about town and owner of Alice Euphemia,
a store that has been championing independent Australian labels for ten
years and keeping the rest of Flinders Lane on its toes. |
|
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
In mid-19th Century London, there was a saloon cat they called ‘The Toff’. A friend to both Mayfair fellows and rough East End diamonds, he was a sort of Richard Branson circa 1848. But this ain’t no history lesson, this is about a bar. Melbourne’s Toff is designed by those behind Cookie, named for the man about town and offers a cross-section of drinking delights. On one side are private booths with push-button table service, on the other, a booming cabaret hall fit for acts from comedy to burlesque. European-flavoured aperitifs stream from the kitchen from 4pm-7pm, with mains and supper till the early hours.
The Toff In Town, Level 2, Curtin House, 252 Swanston Street, Melbourne, tel: 03 9654 6645 |
|
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
Melbourne’s artist-run initiatives (ARIs) are numerous but they can be seriously hard to find. Sometimes it seems like a case of artist-run, artist-hide. Either that, or it’s a gallery ambush. You’re walking down a laneway or subway and you realise that the shop window or cabinet you just passed was actually a mini-exhibition.
While it can be fun to follow the ARI trail like Indiana Jones, this year’s Making Space festival is putting these galleries in the spotlight. That means a program of exhibitions, forums and workshop, plus a book to explain it all. From the subway tunnel headquarters of Platform to the alleyway lightboxes of Citylights, Making Space will introduce you to Victoria’s 21 ARIs, exhibiting more than 80 artists in 50 exhibitions. Highlights include Sex and the City – a ‘quickie’ exhibition at Bus and Rules of Engagement at West Space.
Melbourne’s famous Hidden Secrets Tours are in on the action, hosting walking tours each Thursday and Friday during the festival. The tours will include chats with curators, not to mention an arty glass of wine.
Making Space, April 27 – June 15, citywide, coordinated by via-n.
Hidden Secrets Tours, tel: 03 9329 9665 |
|
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
Werribee Park is definitely rich in wildlife, not to mention historic architecture and dreamy spa facilities. Appropriately, it’s also home to Australia’s richest annual sculpture prize.
The Helen Lempriere Sculpture Award was launched in 2000 and this year’s exhibition demonstrates the guts and glory of Australia’s sculpture scene. Of 21 works on display in the Werribee Gardens, the spooky Meniscii by Julia Davis is the 2007 winner. Incorporating mirrors, the work reflects the sky and the natural environment while commenting on current drought conditions. The piece will join the permanent sculpture collection on display in the Werribee Park Sculpture Walk.
The perfect excuse (in case you needed one) for a weekend of exploration, wine tasting and general luxuriating.
The Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award, until May 27, Werribee Park, tel: 13 19 63 |
|
|
|
| |
 |
| |
Guest Editor, Karen Rieschieck
Something old, something new, something green…
We all love the newest thing but there’s a special place in my heart for the tried and true. The places that have been with us forever and a day because they do what they do so well.
Gallery Funaki is a design institution. Twelve years on, the owners are still bringing us the world’s best contemporary jewellery in a precious environment.
The mother of contemporary art spaces and studios in Melbourne, Gertrude Contemporary, will help you wile away the hours and offers the odd shock.
At the end of a lane, off Little Bourke Street, is Yamato. A great dating venue, it's relaxed, tiny and cosy with casual Japanese food. Close enough to plenty of bars to kick on if the mood strikes.
The New?
Panama Dining Room strangely holds a table tennis tournament on the first Sunday of every month. If you think that no one would be competitive over a cruisy Sunday hit at their favourite watering hole, you'd be wrong.
Palomino café in High Street, Northcote is my haunt for delish baked eggs and coffee that’s a dream.
For something green, a city dweller finds herself floating down to the Botanical Gardens for a quiet retreat and to hear the birds (and night time beasts) chirp.
Gallery Funaki, 4 Crossley Street, Melbourne,
tel: 03 9662 9446
Gertrude Contemporary, 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, tel: 03 9419 3406
Yamato, 28 Corrs Lane, Melbourne,
tel: 03 9663 1706
Panama Dining Room, 3/231 Smith Street, Fitzroy, tel: 03 9417 7663
Palomino café, 236 High Street, Northcote
Botanical Gardens, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, tel: 03 9252 2300
|
|
