AS Melbourne’s arts scene continues to recover from the pandemic, a dynamic exhibition that blurs the line between contemporary art and design has taken unlikely inspiration from lockdown restrictions.<\/p>\n
The lack of connection and limited interaction many faced during the city’s extended COVID-19 lockdown has formed the basis of a peculiar concept now on display at the National Gallery of Victoria.<\/p>\n
Abandoning gallery etiquette, the Freedom of Movement exhibition encourages physical interaction with its pieces, which were acquired over a 10-year period.<\/p>\n
About 60 works encompassing contemporary furniture, lighting, painting, film, sculpture, and installation are featured by prominent artists and designers like Shilpa Gupta and Alicja Kwade.<\/p>\n
Themes of climate change, connection and inclusion are consistently present and are intended to spark conversations.<\/p>\n
NGV art curator Amita Kirpalani said the gallery had curators of many disciplines within its contemporary art and design department, but the exhibition brought them together.<\/p>\n
“I think one thing that we’re pursuing in this show is this blurriness between how an artwork sits in the museum and how a contemporary design work sits in the museum,” she said.<\/p>\n
Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s work Please Empty Your Pockets consists of an airport-style moving conveyor belt, where art fans can interact with a computerised scanner that records an image of everything that passes under it.<\/p>\n
Around the corner, children can draw their own self-portraits using iPads inside esteemed artist Julian Opie’s creative studio.<\/p>\n
Victorian Minister for Creative Industries, Steve Dimopoulos, said the family-friendly exhibition would be great for tourism, providing visitors with more reasons to visit the Melbourne city centre.<\/p>\n
Freedom of Movement: Contemporary Art and Design from the NGV Collection will be on display until 10 April at NGV International in Melbourne.<\/p>\n