Another full day on the agenda.
We started at the Art Gallery NSW to see the Islamic Arts exhibition.
I know nothing about Islam let alone Islamic arts, so was unsure of what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find it fascinating. The exhibition had a lot of versions of the Qur’an – all drawn with the most amazing calligraphy.
It was an educating experience. I learned a lot about Islam and their art. I appreciated the highly detailed drawings and manuscripts in particular, and loved seeing the links between Islam and Christianity and their common stories. Seeing Jesus depicted as a turban-wearing fighter was highly interesting.
We then checked out the Max Dupain photographic exhibition at the State Library.
I love Max Dupain. Seeing his photograph of the bather inspired me to take up black and white photography when I was a young teenager. The exhibition had some of his early work and later architectural photos, which, while exceptional, didn’t interest me as much as his portraits and social documentary of his early works.
Seeing Dupain’s early works amazed me as he took some stunning photos of things like bathers mid-dive from a high board, that are perfectly in focus. This is hard to capture now, with our new digital cameras, so imagine the skill it would have taken to snap such a shot in the ’40s. Completely inspiring.