When your mother really loves something you tend to take notice of that. It was the Costumes from the Golden Age of Hollywood at the Museum of Brisbane that caught my mum’s attention on a visit back in 2015, the year before she passed away.

We took her to visit MoB, as it’s affectionally known, and she and hordes of ladies of a similar vintage were agog at this fascinating exhibition. Not just them though, we all were. It was beautiful and fascinating. It was the sort of exhibition that would have made other museums jealous. And I’m sure they were.

There have been so many terrific exhibitions at MoB over the years and the museum team seems to have a knack of being able to engage with the audience better than many other institution, tapping into the zeitgeist somehow. The current feature exhibition, Clay, which is just about to close, has been a case in point. You thought ceramics, or, if you will, pottery, was out of fashion? Wrong.

Somehow the folks at MoB knew this before we did. Thousands have flocked to see this engaging show which includes a showcase of work by the community at large.

MoB celebrates its 20^th anniversary Saturday October 21 with a very special day of tours, workshops and activities for the whole family. And that’s part of the genius of the place, it’s for everyone.

Recently we said goodbye to MoB director Renai Grace who did an amazing job but now we have Zoe Graham in the job and she is thrilled to have one of the best jobs in the arts in Queensland.

She started in July after leaving her previous role as Queensland State Manager for Creative Partnerships Australia. She has also worked at Queensland Ballet, QAGOMA and Woodford Folk Festival as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.

She’s pretty chuffed to be in charge at MoB and has been a big fan of the joint as an audience member.

“Like many thousands of others, I have come to enjoy the exhibitions here,” Graham says. “It has a really unique role as the city’s art gallery and it also celebrates local artists and wears the hat of being the city’s social history museum too. I find that intersection of roles really interesting.

“We are in this wonderful position of not only attracting locals but we have a role to play in our cultural offerings to interstate and international visitors.”

The Brisbane City Council backs the museum and Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says it has an important role to position Brisbane as a modern, welcoming and vibrant international city on a global stage. He talks about the city being “on the green and gold runway towards the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics”.

“Loal cultural institutions such as Museum of Brisbane will play a pivotal role to showcase our future forward city to a national and global audience,” Cr Shrinner says.

The museum started its life downstairs in Brisbane City Hall, a heritage masterpiece that is very much open to the people of Brisbane and visitors.

It started with an exhibition entitled Bite the Blue Sky: Brisbane Beginnings and there was an opening day concert in King George that featured The Go-Betweens and it doesn’t get much more Brisbane than that.

But it’s when the museum moved to its bespoke location on level three of City Hall a decade ago (on this level you can also take a vintage elevator ride into the City Hall clocktower) that it became somewhere really special. It’s a beautiful space with interior views out onto the building’s roof and the dome which crowns the auditorium below.

It features art of the past as well as contemporary art and works examining the social history of the city and there is usually work being created before your very eyes thanks to an artist in residence program supported by philanthropists Tim and Gina Fairfax.

Zoe Graham says the 20^th anniversary is a time to reflect on the institution’s legacy and to propel the vision for the next two decades.

“Standout exhibitions include world firsts and exclusives such as Mao’s Last Dancer the Exhibition: A Portrait of Li Cunxin in 2017,” Graham says. “

There have been some hugely popular exhibitions in the realm of fashion and design such as the Hollywood Costumes and The Designer’s Guide : Easton Pearson Archive, a fabulous exhibition dedicated to the work of local fashion label Easton Pearson in 2018. Everyone who owned something special designed by Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson wore it to the opening which was rather special.

Probably fewer own pieces by Brisbane global jewelry superstar Margot McKinney but that didn’t stop thousands coming to see World of Wonder: Margot McKinney last year.

One exhibition that gained national attention was New Woman in 2019, a snapshot of the enduring legacies of more than 80 of Brisbane’s significant women artists across 100 years including art by Margaret Olley, Vida Lahey and many others.

That exhibition was ahead of its time and I recall galleries interstate talking about focusing on the art of women at the time while here at MoB we were actually already doing that. Before them. Just saying.

If you have never visited MoB you’re missing something so plan a visit now. And take your mum. She will love the next big exhibition, Rearranged: Art of the Flower, which opens November 25.

museumofbrisbane.com.au

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