Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Wednesday 16 July
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
John Brack’s Collins Street, 5p.m. is considered to be both an iconic painting of peak-hour Melbourne and a social commentary on daily life in the 1950s. The closed faces of the workers, and their lack of awareness of each other – each alone in the crowd – depicts a population emotionally closed down by the daily grind.
Brack painted from his experience of working in a city-based insurance company as a young man, using sketches made over many weeks, while observing streams of city workers leaving for home, from the vantage point of a Collins Street doorway between 4.45pm and 5.15pm.
We’ll talk about the changing nature of work over the decades, and how the familiar site immortalised by Brack has evolved over the centuries. What was Collins Street like before urbanisation – and even colonisation? What’s different (and the same) about working life in Australia? And where are all the women … in the painting (which only depicts a few) and in the upper echelons of today’s working world?
Kirsty Grant, senior curator of Australian Art at NGV, will talk about the artwork and place it in context.
Gary Presland, historian and expert in Aboriginal and natural history, will talk about the history of the Collins Street site.
Gideon Haigh, journalist and author of The Office, will talk about working life, with a specific example from history.
Leslie Cannold, feminist writer and philosopher, will talk about women in leadership.
The Bedroom Philosopher, Justin Heazlewood – writer, comedian and musician – will deliver a creative response to the painting.
Australian Art Starting Conversations
Certain timeless works of art make us see the world differently. By experiencing famous paintings or sculptures, we can form an idea of what life was like when they were created.
But how much can iconic art teach us about the world today? Taking four historical works as a starting point, our guests make a series of lateral leaps to explore the diversity of the modern world through the prism of classic art.
After a curator from the National Gallery of Victoria places the work in context, three different speakers will explore the tangents that arise, leading the discussion surrounding the piece in new and unexpected directions. The evening concludes with a creative response directly inspired by the artwork itself.
In this instalment, Aboriginal and natural history expert Gary Presland, sport and business journalist Gideon Haigh, musician and comedian Justin Heazlewood (The Bedroom Philosopher) and writer, feminist and ethicist Leslie Cannold will present ideas inspired by John Brack’s Collins St., 5p.m..
Please enter through the North entrance, via Arts Centre Melbourne forecourt.
Presented by the Wheeler Centre and the NGV.
Featuring
Michael Williams
Michael Williams is the editor of The Monthly. He was previously the Artistic Director of Sydney Writers’ Festival. He has spent the past decade at the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas in Melbourne as its ...
Gary Presland
Dr Gary Presland is an archaeologist, historian and author. His principal interests are in the landscapes and Aboriginal culture of pre-European Melbourne.
He has been extensively published on these subjects, and his book The place for a village: how nature has shaped the city of Melbourne was judged ‘Best Book’ in the 2009 Victorian Community History Awards.
Justin Heazlewood
Justin Heazlewood is one of Australia’s most versatile storytellers. Music and comedy fans know him best as the ARIA award-nominated Bedroom Philosopher, a moniker under which Heazlewood has released several albums of incisive, brutally funny and often heartbreaking songs. Heazlewood is also a writer of journalism and essays – bringing humour and critical thinking to important issues such as mental illness, unemployment and the frailty of human relationships.
He has written two acclaimed books: the memoir The Bedroom Philosopher Diaries (2012), followed by Funemployed (2014), which focused on the ecstasies, horrors and realities of being a working artist. The latter earned praise from Tony Martin, Dave Graney and international writer Neil Gaiman, and featured interviews with over 100 local and international artists including Gotye (Wally De Backer), Clare Bowditch, John Safran, Tony Martin, Amanda Palmer, Christos Tsiolkas, Tim Rogers and Adam Elliot.
After its release as a book, Funemployed was commissioned into a radio series for ABC RN (Radio National) under the same name. Heazlewood also recorded the Funemployed LP, described as 'a soundtrack to life as an artist in Australia – from rejection to fame to selling out and giving up'.
He has written for Frankie, JMag, the Big Issue and literary journals such as Voiceworks, Sleepers and Going Down Swinging. Heazlewood is also accomplished in the world of television. In 2013, he was commissioned to make two station IDs for ABC2; he then won ABC’s Fresh Blood competition in 2014, allowing him to produce three episodes of Crazy Bastards – a parody of Mad Men set in mid-80s Australia.
Kirsty Grant
Kirsty Grant has worked at the NGV in various capacities; as curator of Australian Prints and Drawings from 1994-2007 and since then as Senior Curator of Australian Art.
In her current role she has responsibility for the collection of Australian paintings, sculpture and decorative arts made up to 1980.
Kirsty has curated numerous exhibitions at the NGV including the John Brack retrospective in 2009 and the forthcoming Mid-Century Modern: Australian Furniture Design.
Leslie Cannold
Dr Leslie Cannold’s expertise is gender and inspirational leadership. Her public contributions in these areas have earned her awards for Australian Humanist of the Year and multiple notices as one of Australia’s most influential public intellectuals and women.
Leslie is a nonfiction and fiction writer. Her latest book is the historical novel, The Book of Rachael.
Gideon Haigh
Gideon Haigh has been a journalist 32 years, published 32 books and edited seven others. His latest is book is Stroke of Genius: Victor Trumper and the Shot That Changed Cricket published in 2016 by Penguin Random House.