Last night I went to the opening of the Albury Delightfully Deco exhibition showing at two sites, the Art Gallery and the Library/Museum, in the NSW city of Albury.
The curator, Tracey Judd Iva, has done a fantastic job to bring together so many diverse Art Deco objects. Radios from a private collection in Sydney, clothes and jewellery from a private collection in Melbourne, cameras and all manner of items from local Albury collections including the AlburyCity Collection.
The highlight is undoubtedly the 1936 Cord (pictured above). I don't recall how few Cords were built or what the miniscule number that reached Australia is but the answer is not very many. The ABC filmed the car driving into the museum for this exhibition.
The exhibition also includes 4 motorbikes, all from local collections. A 1922 Hercules, 1922 GCS Super Sports, 1931 Raleigh and a 1927 Indian Scout.
A dedicated section of the museum deals with the incredible story of the KLM plane, the Uiver, and its link with Albury during the 1934, Macpherson Robinson funded, London to Melbourne air race. Rare KLM tickets and other mememorabilia relating to the Uiver was recently donated to the AlburyCity Collection by the Domenie Family descendants of Roelof Jan Domenie one of the passengers on that Uiver flight.
I especialy liked the works by women modernist artists including Theo Proctor, Ethel Spowers and Eveline Syme. There are also photographs by Max Dupain, travel posters by James Northfield and bookplates by Napier & Christian Waller.
The exhibition is free and runs until Sunday 9th October with a full program of supporting workshops and events including the lighting of several significant Albury deco buildings like the T & G Building pictured below.
Delightfully Deco Catalogue, Albury City Council, 2011
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It is a beautiful car. I can remember it from a car book from years ago. It seems that it is guided, rather than driven. The T&G building is great too. What treasures there are in country towns and regional cities.
ReplyDeleteIt is so true about the treasures that are in country towns and regional cities. Albury has a good selection of deco buildings including a few stunning houses and buildings like the New Albury Hotel.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the other Cord the NGV had as part of the Art Deco exhibition in 2008?
I saw the exhibition, but I can't recall the car now. I've been in a few country towns over the last week that I have never visited before. I am suprised at how much Art Deco is around. I took a few photos that will apear at some point on the net.
ReplyDeleteTo my uneducated eyes it was very similar but dark blue and not a convertible. I look forward to seeing your rural deco photos. There really is quite a lot left. Lots of modest little buildings all over the place.
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