a real page turner...
Handmade BooksYou've probably all heard about the hip new bookstore in brunswick with the super cool name and an interior and stock supply that will leave you either drooling with envy or with your wallet significantly lighter. We might have missed the tea-party launch for the new HAND MADE BOOKS exhibition yesterday, but really it just was WAY too hot for anything but Gluggs and Sunny Boys so we're waiting until the heatwave has past to get on over. The exhibition features a number of local and interstate artists and an interactive installaton by Japanese born artist extrodinaire Hiromi Tango. Tango has asked visitors to contribute thier own stories which she will then handstitch into her artist books. You can look forward to seeing more of Ms. Tango later this year as part of the PLATFORM program, so watch this space.
Brunswick Bound
361 Sydney Road, Brunswick
until April 5
Mon-Sun, 10am-6pm
03 9381 4019
blink or you'll miss em...
Melbourne: bond from the inside out by WALKA
WALKA: I am not a plastic bag 2008
Chilean jewellers Ricardo Pulger and Claudia Betancourt have trawled the backstreets of Melbourne's city and walked the streets of suburbia in search of the most emblematic of icons to explore in their jewellery. The results include moments of brilliance such as neckpieces crafted from the ubiquitous 'green bag' and a sliced up blundstone boot. Apparently the pair are keen bloggers who found out about the vibrant Melboure jewellery scene via both Anna Davern's DAVERNATOR blog and none other than yours truly HML - so snaps to both of us for getting the message out internationally. WALKA's exhibition is only on for one more week so get some while you can.
24/7 until Monday 24 March, enCOUNTER @ Craft Victoria, 31 Flinders Lane Melbourne.
New under the Sun: Australian Contemporary Design in Jewish Ceremony III
ZAC FRANKEL Cup and Saucer 2007 .
Craftspeople of all religions have designed original ritual objects reflecting both the history of jewish tradition and a contemporary Australian aesthetic. The exhibition features over 40 works using a broard variety of media from some of australia's best, including David Ray another HML favourite and fellow 'blood nut'.
Jewish Museum Of Australia
26 Alma Rd, St Kilda
13 November 2007 to 26 March 2008
Phone Bookings
(03) 9534 008
Zandra Rhodes: a life long love affair with textiles
People, we're only going to say this once...
MAKE SURE YOU GET THERE BEFORE IT CLOSES!
RMIT Storey Hall Gallery, 344 Swanston Street Melbourne
Monday-friday 11-5pm, Saturday 2-5 until Saturday the 22nd March
Well the wait is finally over, yes Cottage Industry is OPEN FOR BUSINESS! and HML sends big congratulations and much love to the proprietress, really a top drawer achievement. You couldn't have kept us away on opening day and truth be told we figured that if we made it in around afternoon tea time there would probably be cake, and she's tops at an afternoon tea, quite unbeatable. So...were we surprised by it's charm, well laid out wares, delightful displays and general genius? No of course not, we expected nothing less from the Queen of Durstonia.
BUT we were surprised and beyond delighted by our carry bags. Especially Beck, who yelped, squealed and clapped her hands in delight when she realised she was holding a copy of her treasured HIT CITY weekend Hindustan Times IN HER HANDS! (Indiaphiles note that's none other than Ajay Devgan and Kajol, bottom left, starring in the controversial Sangini Diamond ad campaign... hena!)
And even though it was thoroughly unnecessary we cheekily pressed miss penpen for another special hand-made paper carrier because we loved the Hindi handles so much...
thankfully she graciously obliged our greed, and even fed us hot tea and fresh muffins!
Persuasive Dissent
As Michael Perry states in the opener of 'HAND JOB, "in this digital age of computer generated graphics and typography it's refreshing to see a small subset of typographers who still believe in working by hand". Look to be honest, we love words, we love print, we love graf... and you're talking to two ladies who spent the better part of their primary school years huddled over their homework spending more time on the headings than the rest of the assignment. So this book is a no brainer, and clearly the title is genius. 
