ABC partners with National Gallery of Victoria

ABC will partner with the National Gallery of Victoria for 3 years across a range of projects highlighting its collection, beginning with the documentary Finding the Field, marking 50 years since its inaugural exhibition in 1968, The Field.

David Anderson, ABC Director Entertainment & Specialist, said: “The ABC’s commitment to the arts is built on connecting artists and their works with audiences, to educate, entertain and inspire all Australians. Our new collaboration with the NGV builds on the ABC’s role as a key partner with Australia’s art sector, supporting creative talent across the industry and enabling audiences to enjoy and engage with art and stories.”

Tony Ellwood, Director, NGV said: “As cultural leaders, the ABC and the NGV share aspirations and visions, including the responsibility and ambition to engage with the full diversity of the communities we serve as public institutions. In partnership, we aim to strengthen meaningful participation in the arts by enabling access to art and culture on a large scale through the many initiatives under development.”

A new creative collaboration between Australia’s oldest and most-visited public art gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the ABC will illuminate the diverse stories behind, and inspired by, artworks from the NGV’s rich collection.

The three-year collaboration will deliver a range of projects jointly developed by the ABC and NGV for broad audiences across different platforms, including television, online and education resources.

Highlighting the collaboration is the documentary Finding the Field, to be aired on ABC TV in November, which traces the journey of the NGV’s inaugural 1968 exhibition The Field. The documentary, from Melbourne production company Ghost Pictures, features rare interviews and footage from the exhibition and follows its restaging at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia in 2018, to commemorate its 50-year anniversary.

For young learners, ABC Education and the NGV’s Audience Engagement and Learning Department have developed Discovering Ancient Mediterranean Worlds, a series of behind-the-scenes videos in which NGV curators and conservators explore what the gallery’s antiquities collection reveals about life in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Italy. The digital project, available from late 2018 at abc.net.au/education, will provide students and teachers with an invaluable ongoing educational resource about art and history.

Finding the Field is one of three upcoming ABC documentaries about painting and painters, along with programs exploring the life and legacy of artist Sidney Nolan and the extraordinary achievement and influence of John Peter Russell, the “lost” Australian Impressionist. All three documentaries will also be available on ABC iview.