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exploring taste – Spring/Summer 2016 places – Melbourne into the wild
Melbourne tention over the past year, thirty-year-old female 4.

Among the personalities that have aroused at-
People & Places jockey, Michelle Payne, is high on the list. In Michelle Payne

November 2015 she was the first female jock-
ey to win the Melbourne Cup, riding Prince of
Penzance. Michelle was born in Miners Rest, a
town near Ballarat, in the state of Victoria. Her
1. If you are in Melbourne, do not miss the op- career began at an early age and after a bad fall

portunity to visit these fantastic gardens, which
from a horse in 2004, she returned to compe-
cover a surface of thirty eight hectares and hosts titions in full force. In the 155 years of history
Royal Botanic Gardens more than ten thousand different species of of the Melbourne Cup, only four women have
plants and flowers. The majority of them orig- participated and only one has won, wearing, by
inate from Europe and they were introduced in photography Phil Walter chance, the colors of the suffragette movement:
the mid-nineteenth century. In addition, many purple, green and white.
of the gardens are thematic (Herb Garden, Arid You can follow Michelle on Twitter @mj_payne
Garden, Fern Gully, Bulbs, Rose Garden). The
National Herbarium of Victoria has its head-
quarters here and the organization studies and 5.
identifies plants. It is also possible to visit the
State Botanical Collection, which includes more photography Melburnian/Wikimedia
than a million species of plants and a large col- National Gallery of Victoria
2. lection of dedicated books and magazines. The National Gallery, known also as NGV, is the
www.rbg.vic.gov.au
most important museum in Melbourne. The exhi-
Geoff Newton bition space is split into two sections: NGV Aus-
tralia and NGV International. Founded in 1861, on
If you are passionate about contemporary art and the wave of the great public collections of British
wish to peruse more on the promising scenario of origin, it hosts more than seventy thousand works
Melbourne, the right stop is Neon Parc, the gal- of art, for the major part deriving from government
lery managed with bravery and intelligence by purchases and donations. In the International sec-
Geoff Newton. To celebrate the gallery's tenth an- tion, visitors will be able to admire a vast collection
niversary, the curator and artist recently opened of ancient art, with a few rooms dedicated specifi-
a satellite space called Neon Parc Mark II, located photography Greg O’Beirne/Wikimedia cally to primitive Oceanic art and a rich collection
in the neighborhood of Brunswick. “I felt it was of drawings, prints, fabrics and artifacts. The Aus-
the right moment to experiment on a larger scale, tralian section, instead, includes more than twenty
even if it is always difficult to coordinate three or five thousand works, which range from the colo-
five different galleries.” Newton, born in 1977, nial age to contemporary art.
graduated in 2000 at the Camberra School of Art 3. www.ngv.vic.gov.au photography Kristian Downling/Getty
and employs several people. In 2013, BLOUIN
ARTINFO added him in the list of the interna-
tional ten curators to keep tabs on. Palais Theatre
www.neonparc.com.au
The State Library of Victoria is located at the center
Until the Fifties, the Palais of Melbourne was of the business district in Melbourne and it hosts 6.
the go to place to watch movies. It is a charming
movie theatre decorated with long red drapes more than two million books. Founded in 1853,
throughout. In its early years, the space hosted it is the reference library for the city's University State Library of Victoria
theatre shows, operas and ballets, as well as mu- and is currently undergoing a major restoration
sical concerts by international musicians like the project announced by the Ministry of Creative In-
Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones. Today it still dustries Martin Foley in April 2015. Financed with
hosts the major musical events that reach the an investment of more than 55 million dollars, the
photography Darren Sylvester is its CEO, a personality who in the past worked den on the balcony as well as an area dedicated to
Queen’s Hall will be restored and a panoramic gar-
city, so keep an eye on the schedule. Neil Croker
for the tours for the AC/DC, Dire Straits and Mi-
children will be built while 40percent of the histor-
ical palace will be open to the public.
chael Jackson, among others.
www.palaistheatre.net.au
photography David Iliff/Wikimedia www.slv.vic.gov.au
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