CANBERRA MODERN in the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival

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8 April 2021, 5.30pm

Are you a collector, would be collector, enthusiast or admirer of beautiful mid-century objects? Join Canberra Modern, Canberra Museum and Gallery and the Modern Object for a discussion about ‘collecting’ with experts on curating, conserving, buying, selling and valuing decorative arts from the period. 

10 April 2021, 10am

Garden city ideals are integral to Canberra’s success as a modern city in the landscape. Explore modernism from the perspective of one of Canberra’s original mid-century gardens with garden historians, home owner and designer Bronwyn Blue, the Australian Garden History Society and Canberra Modern. Light refreshments provided.

11 April 2021, 10am

Join art historian Deborah Clark on a walking tour to explore public sculpture in the parliamentary zone. Discover how Canberra inspired and became home to major works by internationally renowned modernist artists such as Tom Bass, Bert Flugelman, Clement Meadmore, Henry Moore, Norma Redpath and more.

17 April 2021, 10am

The ANU campus has over 150 buildings, ranging from early Federal Capital style to modernist design, and more recently to buildings with an emphasis on sustainability. Join ANU Heritage Advisor Amy Jarvis and Art HIstorian Deborah Clark to explore the architects, art, designs, and disagreements which helped to create the spectacular University you see today! 

17 April 2021, 3pm

Join Conservation Architect Peter Freeman on a tour of the heritage listed Evans Crescent Precinct in Griffith, designed by Malcolm Moir and Heather Sutherland. Gain an exclusive look inside while Peter speaks on the fascinating research for his new book Thoroughly Modern: Moir + Sutherland Architects. Light refreshments provided.

17 April 2021, 1pm

University House was established as a showcase of contemporary Australian art and design.  Works by leading Australian artists were commissioned and acquired from 1949 through to the present. Join our panel to learn more about these treasures, their significance, and their place in the University House restoration project.

18 April 2021, 10am

Swinger Hill was an experiment in medium-density housing by the NCDC. These townhouses provide a glimpse into 1970s Canberra and the need to grow, densify and provide for the growing population. Join Canberra Modern and Martin Miles on a walk through this precinct to understand its design, development and success.

8 April and 23 April 2021, 10am-12pm

Join collection managers Claire Sheridan and Amy Jarvis, with Meredith Hinchliffe as they discuss the significance of the University’s mid-century furniture collection.  

21 April 2021, 1pm

As Canberra developed, artists have shaped the way they understood and interpreted the evolving landscape. In this curator talk by Virginia Rigney, participants will journey through four key periods of the city's development and for each, will encounter an object that represents a prism to understand a way of seeing at that time. 

23 April 2021, 5.30pm-7.30pm

This publication will tell the story of the two mid-20th century Canberra architects, Heather Sutherland and Malcolm Moir. Come and learn about their lives and 'Functionalist Style' architecture in the Canberra of that era 

10 April, 18 April, 25 April 2021, 12pm and 2pm

Manning Clark House is a delightful example of modernist architecture, designed by Robin Boyd in 1952. It was the home of eminent historian Professor Manning Clark, his wife Dymphna, herself a linguist and historian, and their family. Book in for a tour and stay on for afternoon tea. 

Saturday 13 April 2019 - 10am - 12pm. 

Join artist Trevor Dickinson on a bus tour of Canberra's iconic bus shelters - our bus will stop at 6 stops - be prepared for some pop-up activities at some stops and some special guests along the way. 

Pickup/Dropoff Point: at University House, ANU

Saturday 13 April 2019 - 2.00pm - 3.00pm

Australian designer Marion Hall Best created avant-garde ‘space-age’ interiors, drawing on the most innovative designers and materials. What constituted ‘space age aesthetics’ in Australian interiors? Join design historian, Catriona Quinn as she traces the evolution of the style from 1950s atomic patterns to 1960s and 70s interiors. 

The exhibition is open from 

March 23-June 15 2019

Saturday 13 April 2019 - 3.30pm-4.30pm

 Explore the Total Design exhibition then join architect and designer Derek Wrigley for refreshments in the CMAG foyer. Derek will answer questions about his work in the exhibition and sign copies of his new book,  The ANU Design Unit 1954-1977: Design Awareness in the Modern University. 

 The exhibition is open from

 March 23-June 15 2019 

Saturday 13 April 2019 - 6.00pm

 Step back in time at Canberra Modern's Modernist Dinner at University House (1954). Eat, drink and dance in your best vintage outfit with a mid-century inspired menu. Join guest MC - Ms Modernism, Annalisa Cappuro and artist Trevor Dickinson, locally known for taking our humble bus stops to icon status. 

Sunday 14 April 2019 - 10.00am - 3.00pm

 Do you love all things mid-century? The Modernist Market is the place for you! Join us for food, entertainment and stalls of clothing, jewelry, home-wares, furniture, books, records and more.  Discover your inner pinup with Miss Cherrybomb and enjoy a vintage car show and shine. There’s something for everyone.  

4 Tours of University House will be offered throughout the day: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/historic-house-tours-tickets-59763294623

 Sunday 14 April 2019 - 2.00pm - 3.00pm

Comedian and design nerd Tim Ross brings Design Nation Live, his acclaimed talk to the National Gallery of Australia. Exploring the fascinating and often surprising stories of the invisible icons of Australian design, revealing how our unique design histories have helped shape our national identity 

Talking points will present recent works from makers connected with the gold and silversmithing program at The ANU School of Art and Design. A boardroom table located in the Torrance Room at University House will function as a backdrop for this exhibition. The exhibition will present a diverse range of dialogues, interests and concerns that have emerged through the gold and silversmithing studio over the last 40 years. The table is an appropriate platform for the interests the exhibition presents, as a place where complex dialogues converge. Themes explored include cross-cultural enquiry, material and sensorial concerns and the intersection of visual languages.     

ONE SHOW ONLY!

Join Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross for a casual chat about modernism, Canberra and anything else he feels like. Tim is a major advocate for the protection and appreciation of Australia’s modernist buildings, most recently lending his voice to the Save Our Sirius campaign in Sydney. Tim’s award winning program on ABC ‘Streets of Your Town’ gave a voice to the buildings which provide the unique backdrop to the Australian lifestyle. 

Join us for a dinner unlike any other! 

Established in 1946, ANU was findings its proverbial feet through the mid-century period, and as the University attracted the best of the best in academia, architecture and politics to Canberra, they were treated to grand dinners in true modernist style.  Using an authentic menu from the era for inspiration, University House’s chefs will prepare a three-course meal with wine. 

Dress in your finest modernist garb and be prepared to time travel to a different time and space in history.  The keynote will be acclaimed modernist photographer Darren Bradley AKA @modarchitecture and our MC, who promises to bring the ‘razzle dazzle’, is none other than Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross. 

A day out for young and old!

- Traders include vintage clothing, jewellery, books, furniture and homewares!

- From 12pm Join pinup sensation Miss Cherrybomb for vintage hair and makeup demonstrations

- From 2pm Miss Cherrybomb is hosting a best dressed competition with fabulous prizes! - entries on the day- 

- Check out the pop-up food and beverage stalls!  

- Join local swing band In Full Swing have a dance! or grab a picnic blanket and listen under the trees. 

- The Canberra Antique and Classic Motor Club will have some of their best mid-century cars out for a show and shine!

- Grab a snap in the vintage photo booth! 

The market is curated by Three Sixty Style.

Grab your camera and take a walk around the ANU Acton Campus and surrounds with award-winning photographer, Instagram star and Canberra aficionado Darren Bradley AKA @modarchitecture. Darren will share his amazing tips and tricks for architectural photography with several examples of modernist buildings on and around the ANU Campus. Following the walk and snap, Darren will show you how to make your snaps shine with a brief workshop on post production. 

One of the first buildings to be constructed by the Australian National University, the John Curtin School of Medical Research was a place of significant medical advancement; of Nobel Prize winning research and of deep investigation into the workings of the human body. When the building was refurbished in 2014, many of the original fittings such as early Bakelite switches and power points, Negretti & Zambra thermographs, pressure gauges, fans and bells were salvaged by ANU Heritage, and repurposed into sculptural assemblages by artist and archaeologist Martin Rowney.  

Grant Featherston is best known for his plywood Contour chairs developed in the early 1950s. However the Contour series just marked the start of a thirty year career in chair design. Working with Melbourne -based manufacturer Aristoc, Grant later joined by his wife Mary, designed hundreds of chairs some of which were so commercially successful that it is no exaggeration to claim that nearly everyone over thirty in Australia has sat on a Featherston chair. Surprisingly, very little has been published on the work of Australia's most successful mid-century designers. In September this year the first monograph was published by Thames and Hudson. This 300 page book features over 250 photographs highlighting the breadth of the Featherston’s designs, focusing on the 13 year partnership with Aristoc an featuring many previously unpublished images from the company's archive.
 

Author Geoff Isaac will present an illustrated overview of the Featherstons' work in chair design and the will be followed by a book signing.
 

Presented by ANU School of Art and Design 

5pm-6pm Masterclass 

This exclusive event is limited to 20 people. Join Canberra’s own Martini Whisperer Phillip Jones for a memorable cocktail hour to explore its mysteries, history, and how to craft the perfect cocktail at home. He’ll also share the role of the Martini in adding glamour to the suburban cocktail hour. Naturally, all that talk of Dry Martinis is sure to make you thirsty and you’ll be able to craft one of your own under his expert eye! Tickets include welcome drink and a Martini.
 

6.30pm to 8.00pm Talk and Demonstration

The Martini is the most iconic of cocktails, instantly recognisable and evocative. Like modernist design, it’s elements are simple but expressive of time and place.
 

So dress up for a fabulous cocktail party and a very special door prize - a personalised Martini masterclass with the Martini Whisperer himself for up to 6 friends in the comfort of your own home! Talk entry includes first drink, and antipasto, with cash bar available for further refreshments.  

While Harry Seidler is one of Australia’s most famous architects, little is known of his European-born contemporaries. The newly released title The Other Moderns uncovers the work of these forgotten émigré architects, interior designers, and furniture makers working and reveals their ground breaking impact on modernist design. The Other Moderns explores the work of this unacknowledged group of style makers for the first time in a richly illustrated publication including stunning images from Austrian-born photographer Margaret Michaelis and furniture from the collection of Hotel Hotel Canberra. Author Rebecca Hawcroft will speak on her research for the book and focus on some of Canberra’s many fascinating émigré stories and the connections that intertwine with the designers featured in the book and the exhibition ‘The Moderns’, currently showing at Museum of Sydney.