Indian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia

I never need an excuse to visit our Art Gallery of South Australia, but today I had an extra reason. It was to view an exhibition titled Realms of Wonder that features Jain, Hindu and Islamic art of India. On the way to the gallery we crossed the University footbridge and found a collection of love locks that we had not seen since our visit to Minsk - the capital of Belarus, a few years ago. Strange to see it has started here at home………..

 The lawns at the gallery looked inviting with an Indian art inspired snakes and ladders game waiting to be played in the courtyard……...

 The gallery also has a studio space for children to 'play in' which reflects the special exhibition…….

 Of course there is always the mandatory visit to the William Morris room…….

 And we also discovered another exhibition inspired by Ovid's poem 'Metamorphoses' (which I discovered were 15 books!). This was intriguing and is the work of contemporary artist Fiona Hall …..

 The installation below titled "Clouds" was a commissioned piece for the Melbourne Art Foundation and is made up of all sorts including ladders and hundreds of cables and lights. The artist is Ian Burns…….

 This piece "The Gamekeeper's Gibbet" is from British artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster. You have to get up close to see that the reflected sculptures are actually made up of mummified and then gilded creatures……..

 But what were we really there for…..Ah, ahh……...

 this of course……...

 I have predominantly taken photos of textiles and most of the following are from the 20th century. Some are painted, some embroidered and many block printed……….

 This hand painted temple hanging is dated 1780……….

These are my favourites - Palampores from around 1800…….

 More incredible gold-work embroidery…….

Wood carving………... 

 and a beautiful 18th-19th century tent panel………..

 More inspiration……...

 I am sure William Morris was inspired by this style of work as well……….

 This hand quilted prayer mat is dated mid 19th century……….

 It is always exciting to see my book featured in the bookshop - such a thrill. So it was time for a coffee - I am sure Larry's look of deep contemplation had nothing to do with what we had just seen though!! More about why hasn't our house sold yet and when is this new part-time job I was offered 6 weeks ago finally going to start!!!

 A gift from Larry of a beautiful ceramic mug. The gallery have a promotion on at the moment so of course we had to have the Morris one! 

It was a great exhibition and very timely as I am working on the Mughal inspired quilt at this very moment. So thanks for sharing our day with us!