bundoora homestead art centre

Melrose Art Pottery

April 20 2012 - July 1 2012

Melrose Art Pottery tells the story of the Hoffman Brick, Tile and Pottery Company’s survival during the 1930s Depression. Established in 1862, and located in Brunswick, the company was the largest business of its type in the southern hemisphere. The exhibition provides a fascinating insight into the social history of the era and the Melrose range of pottery Hoffman’s produced to remain economically viable in turbulent times. The styling of the pottery was largely inspired by the worldwide modernist movement and the prevailing tastes reflected in Australian Arts and Crafts Societies. Curated by ceramics expert, Greg Hill, Melrose Art Pottery examines the historical, technical and artistic achievements of the Melrose range and its contribution to Australian commercial pottery.

Bundoora Homestead Art Centre touring exhibition

Menagerie Merveilleuse: curious beasts of Bundoora and beyond

July 6 2012 - August 26 2012

Inspired by the 2,500 new species discovered on the Australian expeditions of French explorer Nicholas Baudin, Sharon West presents a selection of unnatural specimens overlooked by his zoologists. Marvellous hybrid curios are featured including kangaroosters and budgeroos, purportedly encountered by John Batman during his surveying of Port Phillip.

Winner of the 2011 Darebin Art Show award, Sharon West is the inaugural Artist in Residence at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre.

Bundoora Homestead Art Centre exhibition

Time Machine: Sue Ford

August 31 2012 - October 14 2012

Sue Ford (1943–2010) was one of Australia’s most important photographers and filmmakers. Ford studied photography at RMIT and in 1974 was the first Australian photographer accorded a solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria.

The exhibition describes a period when photography was charged with political and personal meaning. It provides a great opportunity for audiences to reassess the talent of this important photographer, whose work was at once political, beautiful and elegiac.

In an era when the photograph has become highly disposable it is important to acknowledge its role as an agent of change and memory.

Monash Gallery of Art touring exhibition

Cloudy Sensoria

October 19 2012 - December 2 2012

From light phenomena to sound, qualities of smell and the dispersal of air in space, Cloudy Sensoria explores the intangible forms of sensation. The exhibition acts as a site specific interpretation of the time shifting experiences at Bundoora Homestead. Originally the home of an aristocratic family, then an institution for men deeply traumatised and often disfigured by war; no one lives here anymore, it is now a cultural centre, a place for ideas and contemplation. As if the walls could tell their stories, the artists engage the audience in new ways of seeing – often not with the eyes – perceiving the building, its location and history.

Bundoora Homestead Art Centre & RMIT University (School of Architecture and Design) exhibition

John Borrack: Selected Paintings & Drawings 1970 - 2011

December 7 2012 - February 10 2013

John Borrack is a maverick, free thinker and master craftsman. Best known for his lyrically structured paintings, Borrack’s sensitive interpretation of the Australian landscape balances the needs of technique and theory with clarity of emotional expression.

While working predominantly in watercolour and gouache, over recent years, he has exhibited his oil paintings more frequently revealing an effortless ability to move from one medium to the other. Represented in numerous collections including National Gallery of Victoria, Queensland Art Gallery, regional galleries, municipal councils, universities and leading corporate collections, this retrospective captures the haunting, evocative quality of Borrack's work spanning the last four decades.