Melbourne, apart from footy there’s a good kick up the arts

Melbourne during AFL grand final week is so much more than footy, with the Cartier exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NVG), laneway art and a wander through the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria top of the list for my trip in late September.

Unfortunately, you only have until Sunday, October 4, to experience the excellent Cartier exhibition at the NVG, which has been running since June. The exhibition features nearly 400 items of Cartier jewellery, watches, clocks and items such as cigarette cases and hair pieces. Created by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in partnership with NVG and in collaboration with Cartier, the exhibition charts the history and creative development of the French design house and luxury brand since its founding in Paris in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier.

The exhibition, which is exclusive to Melbourne, features display after display of stunning jewellery and timepieces from the Cartier Collection, as well as loans from international and private collections. The exhibition highlights the rise of Cartier and influences from various parts of the world in the designs, told through design sketches, photographs and the pieces themselves commissioned and worn by royalty, socialites and Hollywood stars. Videos highlight the craftmanship and exquisite detail behind the development of the pieces.

The exhibition highlights design features Cartier is renowned for, including the garland style, the panther and the beautiful Indian-inspired Tutti Frutti jewellery featuring sapphires, rubies and emeralds in the shape of leaves, buds and berries.

Items on display include the dazzling Sun Tiara from 1907, featuring splaying lines of diamonds designed to evoke rays of light from a central yellow diamond; the Berenice emerald tiara from 2012; a special order emerald, diamond and platinum necklace commissioned by Beatrice Mills, Countess of Granard in 1932; Princess Margaret’s diamond and platinum rose clip brooch; the exquisite colourful Tutti Frutti necklace worn by French socialite Daisy Fellowes in the 1900s; Nancy Astor’s 1930s diamond, turquoise and platinum tiara with influences from Egypt, India, Thailand and Cambodia; Princess Grace of Monaco’s beautiful “day’ jewellery; and a bib necklace comprising amethysts, turquoise, diamonds, platinum and gold commissioned by the Duke of Windsor in 1947 and worn by the Duchess of Windsor. Items worn and owned by stars of the stage and screen feature prominently, including Elizabeth Taylor’s Burmese ruby and diamond necklace, and a collection of turquoise and diamond jewels owned by opera singer Dame Nellie Melba.

The exhibition aptly culminates in a whole room dedicated to tiaras, seen as the pinnacle of the jeweller’s art and a symbol of status and style. The tiaras are a dramatic and magnificent representation of Maison Cartier’s elite creativity and artistry.

While you are at the NVG, look up at the colourful kaleidoscope stained glass ceiling in the Great Hall, which is also beautiful.

Creativity of a very different kind is on display throughout Melbourne’s laneways, with street artists contributing to the city’s colourful and striking collection of murals, mixed media and stencils since the 1990s. A downloadable map is available from the City of Melbourne website for a self-guided walking tour which kept me occupied for nearly two hours.

The route starts at Duckboard Place, continuing to AC/DC Lane, Hosier Lane, Flinders Way, Presgrave Place, Drewery Lane, Guildford Lane and ending at Blender Lane. I loved the framed mixed media works on Presgrave Lane, the handmade mosaic tiles made by families and friends of war veterans on Drewery Lane, Guildford Lane’s green mural on an old substation door and the vibrant colours bursting from walls throughout the tour.

Melbourne’s street art is forever changing, with recent additions including a San Francisco 49ers mural after the US NFL team’s recent defeat of the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne in September.

The most recent mural which appeared during my visit was a giant image of Kylie Minogue ahead of her pre-game performance at the AFL grand final.

On a pleasant walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens two days before the final, I was entertained by Kylie as she rehearsed for her show across the Yarra at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in what was a fitting end to an arts and sports-based mini-break in the Victorian capital.