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Fellows look to the sky
To celebrate the International Year of Astronomy, IPAA Fellows turned their gaze to the night sky.
NGV curator Stephen Gilchrist, who was a nominee for the inaugural IPAA Young Indigenous Leader Scholarship, guided Fellows through the constellations of the Shared Sky exhibition at the Ian Potter Gallery.
Shared Sky features prints and drawings by Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists of comets, meteors and star clusters such as the Southern Cross and the lesser known Seven Sisters.
Stephen explained how spirituality is a common theme throughout the exhibition. Indigenous and European artists alike were influenced by the metaphysical, rather than the scientific, when portraying the skies above.
The exhibit also allows us to expand our appreciation of Indigenous art beyond the more common depictions of land and country to include Indigenous creation stories associated with the moon, sky and milky-way.
Jim Pollock, Vice President, the Astronomical Society of Victoria, shed light on Victoria's more scientific relationship with the night sky.
He explained how Melbourne was at the forefront astronomical science in the nineteenth century thanks to the Great Melbourne Telescope, which was purchased with gold money.
To restore the telescope to its former glory, the Astronomical Society of Victoria is gathering funds and seeking to import a special mirror from Russia.
The next Roundtable will take Fellows back through time as IPAA unveils its 80th Anniversary exhibition at the State Library of Victoria.
