The National Gallery of Victoria welcomed Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh to The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia on Wednesday 26 October 2011.
The Royal visit in the National Gallery of Victoria’s 150th anniversary year acknowledges the significant role that the Gallery has played in the cultural life of Victoria since 1861.
National Gallery of Victoria
Following the visit Dr Gerard Vaughan, Director, NGV said: “We are honoured and delighted that Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh chose to visit the NGV during this milestone year.
“The Royal Couple were greeted warmly by NGV staff and expressed how pleased they were to visit the Gallery today.
“Her Majesty was particularly interested in the works within our Indigenous Art exhibition Living Water and spoke with several of the Western Desert artists whose work is on display in the Gallery.”
Living Water is an Indigenous art exhibition which consists of 107 contemporary works, collected and commissioned by the NGV curatorial team over several years from artists and artist communities in the Far Western Desert. These works were gifted to the NGV by the Felton Bequest in celebration of the Gallery’s 150th anniversary.
During the visit Her Majesty also had the opportunity to see the NGV’s community education program in action and meet Victorian school children contributing to the collaborative sculpture Bunjil’s nest which celebrates Bunjil the Eagle, creator spirit of the Kulin Nation.
The timing of the visit is especially poignant as the majority of space at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is currently dedicated to Indigenous art, presenting its earliest origins right through to contemporary practice.
Members of the public are invited to visit The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square and retrace the steps of The Royal Couple by viewing the Living Water exhibition and Bunjil’s nest sculpture. www.ngv.vic.gov.au