International Museum Day: Cultural Landscapes - The Art of Collecting for the Public

What is the process of collecting in a public art institution?

How do public galleries make works in their collection relevant today?

How important is collecting contemporary art and design to building and preserving the cultural landscape?

To celebrate International Museum Day 2016, take part in a tour of the NGV Collection, in person in the Gallery or digitally, as curators share their thoughts on collecting and curating in a public art institution.

The three stop tour takes place at NGV International and will be filmed for Periscope and followed by a Q&A with the curators on Twitter. Follow us on @NGVMelbourne on Periscope and Twitter to take part in the program if you cannot make it on the day.

Periscope stream will run from 11am – 12pm. 

Q&A on Twitter will run from 1pm – 2.30pm. 

• 1pm – 1.20pm: Katie Somerville, Senior Curator, Fashion and Textiles
• 1.30pm – 1.50pm: Simone LeAmon, Hugh Williamson Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture
• 2pm – 2.20pm : Laurie Benson, Curator, International Art

Laurie Benson

Laurie Benson is Curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. He has been at the NGV since 1999 and has worked on a number of major exhibitions including,The Impressionists, Dutch Master’s, Salvador Dali Liquid Desire, Italian Masterpieces from Spain’s Royal Court, Museo del Prado, Medieval Moderns: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, The Horse and last year’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition Masterpieces from the Hermitage The Legacy of Catherine the Great. Laurie has also co-authored three of the handbooks of the NGV International Art collection and is currently working on the MWM for 2016 Degas: A New Vision.

Simone LeAmon

Simone LeAmon is the Hugh Williamson Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the NGV. Working internationally for two decades as an artist, industrial designer, design curator, writer and academic, Simone has established a career as one of Australia’s foremost design activists, championing the importance of design and creativity, and the work of the creative communities we live in.

In 2103 Simone was guest curator and co-exhibition designer for the product and furniture design component of NGV’s groundbreaking exhibition Melbourne Now, introducing design projects from 56 Melbourne designers and firms in the Melbourne Now Design Wall. More recently, Simone curated the NGV 2015 Rigg Design Prize and presently co-leads the development of the Design and Architecture collection and ongoing program.

Katie Somerville

Katie Somerville is the Senior Curator of Fashion and Textiles at the NGV and has worked with a range of fashion and textile collections for over 20 years, including the Northampton Boot and Shoe Museum (UK), National Gallery of Australia, Historic Houses Trust (NSW) and the Powerhouse Museum.

Katie joined the curatorial department at the NGV in 1995. She is responsible for the research and development of the collections and the ongoing program of publications and exhibitions for the Fashion and Textiles Department. During her time at the NGV she has curated and co-curated numerous exhibitions including Akira Isogawa: Printemps-Été (2004), Martin Grant, Paris (2005), Together Alone: Australian and New Zealand Fashion (2009), ManStyle: Men + Fashion (2011), Melbourne Now (2013) and Express Yourself: Romance Was Born for Kids (2014). She is currently working on the upcoming exhibition Making the Australian Quilt: 1800 – 1950, opening in July 2016.