Friday, September 19, 2014

Victor Hugo exhibition

At our design course we talked about using line to draw. I saw some amazing examples this week, at the Victor Hugo exhibition. It is at the State Library in Melbourne and is timed to coincide with the newest production of Les Miserables.

One thing I learnt was that I don't know much about French history!  It was quite enlightening and made me think I should learn more.
There were old manuscripts, paintings and old photographs about Victor Hugo and his times.

Of special interest to me, in terms of line drawing, were the prints that appeared in his time - they use line extensively. I had never thought about it in that way before. Doing courses and learning about design make you see the world differently.

We weren't allowed to to take photos in that part of the exhibition but there was another aspect, related to the various stage productions of the musical Les Miserables. It was in a very interesting space. It seemed as if it was outside the original State Library building, using the walls to set the scene. I am not sure if it was really the outside that is now enclosed or if there were some really good props. Whatever it was, it was impressive. I was more taken with the space than with the exhibition - but I am not a Les Miserables oficionado.  (I have looked at the map and it seems that there is a space that is temporarily closed, suggesting that I am right, we were looking at the outside of the building which has the appearance of some of the French buildings. It was probably built around the same time. It was a fabulous space.)



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