01. Got to Bonnard in the nick of time. Apparently India Mahdavi’s exhibition design was a little much for the traditionalists but I thought it was outstandingly beautiful. I loved the wallpapers. I loved how the each space drew you into the next. I loved all the colour.
02. MTC 2024 planning dinner party – my friend cooked half a dozen dishes from Movida Rustica but the highlight was slow-cooked beef cheeks with a sherry glaze and creamy cauliflower puree. So, so good. And tickets all booked for 2024.
03. Saw the film version of the play (got that?!) of Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. Harrowing. Amazing. Not sure who I would recommend it to (three hours of heavy-going and confronting stuff). I got through dozens of tissues and was completely wrung out by the end but still reflecting on it as a theatre production – so clever.
04. Planning my viewing strategy for the British Film Festival and the Jewish International Film Festival – so many good films this year!
05. Walking the Yarra this week (to check out the rising water after the mid-week downpour) we happened across a billabong dotted with stands of yellow irises – have never seen that before (and it’s in a stretch of the river we know well). Love that the River never fails to surprise.
06. I thought it was going to be a waste of Mint Slices but these truffles were actually delicious.
07. New album by Robbie.
08. Acorn developments.
That exhibition design is stunning! So clever.
Loving the acorn updates 🙂
Hopefully many more acorn updates to come!
Not read Little life but a friend saw the play in London and was appalled. She claimed it was gratuitous and was really really angry about it 🤷🏻♀️
I read the book when it was first released and did not recommend it to anybody because it has a lot of very traumatic elements. That said, it also describes relationships, particularly that between a parent and a child, in an exceptional way – there is one passage that I think about frequently, and almost ten years later it remains one of the most powerful things I’ve read. But it is absolutely not for everyone.
And the play/ film would be the same. I get that it could be seen as gratuitous (there’s a lot of blood) but I interpreted the bloody clothes as a way of depicting the ongoing evidence/ scars of trauma. Perhaps I am being too generous in that understanding! Anyway, I would strongly suggest reading the book BEFORE seeing the play/ film – I think you would know after reading whether the play is for you or not.
I’m with you, but I’m not a traditionalist. I loved the Bonnard. It was so well curated – beautiful and informative. Who needs to go to overseas galleries when we have exhibitions like this? Seriously. My travel plan these days is to keep away from cities – I’ve seen enough big galleries overseas and, great as they are, it’s local life and culture, and landscape l’m most interested in. Always has been a major part of our travels, but I’ve firmed it up in recent times.