On Wednesday, February 28, the launch of the book “Pursuit of the New“ on Louise Hanson Dyer was held at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.
Edited by Kerry Murphy and Jennifer Hill, this book focuses on the interwar period and aims to provide perspective on Louise Hanson-Dyer’s projects in Melbourne, Paris and Melbourne, considering her work from a global perspective and highlighting the important role she played in the transnational cultural relationship between Australia and France.
The book highlights the importance of her role as a cultural activist in the early 20th century in Europe and Australia and sheds new light on her publication of early and unpublished music editions, art collections, and early sound recordings, through the les Editions de l’Oiseau Lyre that she had created.
In her launch speech, Myriam Boisbouvier Wylie spoke about some of the parallels between Louise’s and her own journey of life. The evening concluded with a small music concert presented by Les Editions de l’Oiseau de Lyre.
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The following evening, on Thursday February 29th, the launch of another book CHLOE took place at the Young and Jackson Hotel
This book, written by Katrina Kell, is inspired by one of Australia’s most famous paintings. This work by the French artist Jules Joseph Lefebvre, painted in Paris in 1875, has been displayed on one of the walls of the Young and Jackson Hotel since 1909 and has thus become a cultural icon for art enthusiasts.
It is therefore no coincidence that Katrina Kell chose this symbolic location for the launch of her work. In her book, Katrina Kell seeks to uncover the identity of the young girl in the painting, known in history only as Marie. She evokes the incandescence of the young woman who has the strength to defy class boundaries and conventions to survive.
The event took the form of an interview between the author and Dr. Ted Gott, Senior curator at the NGV, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Beautiful moments of exchange during this two events !