It’s time to get arty and cultural on The Little Backpacker – having done 3 years of art schooling I have decided it is time to get myself back in to visiting art galleries, photography galleries and just museums in general.
The South Australian Art Gallery can be found on the North Terrace in Adelaide, open daily from 10 am – 5pm with free admission except for the special exhibition which when I visited was Turner. It has a huge hall made up of 10 galleries – five of which showcase Australian art through the 1800’s and 1900’s and then 5 which showcase European art, from around the same time. Collections of portraits and beautiful landscapes line the walls, some caught my eye others didn’t. I always worry when I visit an art gallery that if I’m interested in a minority of the work it isn’t going to be a good visit. However this is a museum that has plenty of galleries with different styles of work so I headed on to the ‘Works On Paper’ gallery and Contemporary Art where I was much more interested in the works.
The best part about this gallery though was the ‘studio’ a space where you can sit and draw with the materials provided. I have visited my fair amount of art galleries and never come across a studio space before. Have you been to an art gallery with a studio before? Needless to say I sat down and drew for an hour or so. Art galleries are not for everyone but I think once in a while it is good to visit, you never know you might be surprised.
South Australian Museum also found on North Terrace in Adelaide, open daily from 10am – 5pm with free admission. A huge museum with 5 levels packed full of history about South Australia and beyond. If you have been to London it is very much like the National History Museum – life size mammals on display but not as many hands on displays. I found the two floors on Aboriginal history very interesting and informative however the rest of the museum was good for looking at but didn’t interest me enough to stay and read.
Migration Museum tucked away from the main museums but easy to find following the signs, open daily from 10am – 5pm with free admission. It is the third place I was recommended to check out while it was raining on a day in Adelaide but this one turned out to be very disappointing. Small and complicated compared with the other two – it is a museum about the history of people migrating to Australia. Explaining how over time the rules have changed on who is allowed to enter the country and why they chose those people. The problem was it seemed to just skim over the surface I didn’t learn many new facts from being here.
I think maybe my other problem with the Migration Museum was that it was my third of the day and by that point I was bored of reading and digesting new information. The museums are all worth a visit as there is so much to learn about the history of Australia just stick to one a day.
Watch this space for Melbourne Art and Culture Reviews…
