Thursday, April 19, 2018

Marimekko

I went to Bendigo, and I ate some of this:
Chips and gravy! Central Victoria's signature dish. The slightly orange cast is due to the orange umbrella we were sitting under.

Of course the chips and gravy wasn't the main reason for the trip to Bendigo. Really I was there to meet up with some friends and see the Marimekko exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery. It is on until 11th June.

You will have to imagine my two friends in that photo. One was taking a photo of the facade. The other was taking a photo of the first one taking her photo. I tried to take a photo of the second one taking a photo of the first one taking a photo of the gallery, but stupidly announced what I was doing so they both jumped out of shot!

I swapped to my phone for the photos inside the exhibition, as it handles ambient light better.

As well as the expected swathes of fabric:


And shift dresses:


The exhibition includes lots of "behind the scenes" pieces such as original artwork, fabric swatches and designer notebooks. There are also accessories, magazine articles from the early days of the company, and homewares.

I didn't know this existed:
The Finnish name of this glassware translates as "Socks Falling Down".

The exhibition was first shown in Japan, so there is quite an emphasis on Japanese designers who worked for Marimekko. But the last room of the exhibit is new for Australia - it shows the most recent designs, including how the classic prints have been re-sized and re-coloured for new uses.
Such as this bag and dress based on the "Strawberry Mountains" furnishing fabric on the wall. Fabric from 1969, dress from 2001.

In this room was the one garment I could see myself wearing:
The dress closest to the camera - Reima - designed in 2018, from fabric designed in 1968. Wonder if I could find a pattern to make something similar for next summer?

Here are links to the blog posts of the two friends who I went to the exhibition with:
Jacaranda
Skipping Stitches
It is interesting to see the different things we each focussed on.

4 comments:

jacaranda said...

A wonderful day in the company of friends and I can still smell those scrumptious chips and gravy.

Jeann of Melton said...

Stunning! Makes me want to go.

Jeanette said...

I was amused by the Socks Falling Down glassware. It was a fashion thing and the new uniform policy at my kids school specified that the chunky knit socks had to be scrunched down.
Thanks for the lovely day and kindly chauffeuring.

Needled Mom said...

Looks like a fun outing. I have one of the Marimekko bags and love it.