As chilly days and the snail-paced property market drags on, we at MA are instead turning our excitement toward delving into the archives and seeing the southern capital in all it’s Mid-Century glory via film and photography.
First up: The State Library of Victoria and their new exhibition, “As Modern as Tomorrow”. Pulling photographs from their extensive archives the Library gives as a glimpse of our own photography talent from the 1930s to 1960s capturing the rise of the New in fashion, industry, architecture and advertising an era unlike any previously seen.
“As modern as tomorrow: photographers in post-war Melbourne showcases striking commercial photography from the Library’s collection, and gives a unique insight into the changing social fabric of mid-20th-century Melbourne……These exceptionally talented individuals were active in commercial fields as varied as fashion, advertising, architectural and industrial photography, for clients including Robin Boyd, the Australian Wool Board, Shell and Kodak.”

As an aside, the library is running a host of associated events, two of which specifically discuss the role of the professional photographer as a companion to the architect and a feature on the work of John Gollings

Secondly, it wouldn’t be the depths of winter without a trip to the Melbourne International Film Festival and especially their programme dedicated to the creation of, and qualities we impart on, our urban environments. In keeping with this and celebrating the 60th anniversary of MIFF we are keen to see the historical showcase of “Melbourne on Film Shorts 1 and 2” two collections of shorts with such titles as: Life in Australia: Melbourne (1966), Sunday in Melbourne (1958), Your House and Mine (1958) and Planning for Melbourne’s future (1954).

Interesting that a lot of these offerings mull-over questions and observations which never quite leave this town’s psyche, even after 60 years.
Both the MIFF and As Modern as Tomorrow are on over July in Marvellous Melbourne. Why deal with the white shoe, dolphin-torturing hoards in sunny QLD when you can enjoy such cosy Modernist pleasures? We’ll see you there.