This weekend, the wonderful The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestry exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW finishes. Kenn and I were lucky enough to be able to visit while we were in Sydney for the Vivid Festival a week or so ago. These tapestries are revered as a national treasure in France and it is only the third time the tapestries has left France in 500 years, thanks to a fabulous loan from the collection of the Musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Âge in Paris.
We chose to visit in the early afternoon which allowed us time for a leisurely walk to the ferry along the Middle Harbour and Fairlight foreshores. It’s a short walk from Circular Quay to the Art Gallery and before we knew it, we had purchased tickets and were making our way through the exhibition.
I love how galleries make exhibitions so interactive. There were weaving workshops where visitors could begin to understand the incredible skill and complexity of these medieval works of art by trying their hand at weaving as well as an audio visual presentation providing a deeper insight into the history, preservation and interpretations of the tapestries.
But it was of course the tapestries themselves which were so wonderful. Each one was the size of a room and the detail was mind blowing when one considers that these works of art were created by medieval human hands. Not on a computerised industrial loom!
It was possible to sit and view the tapestries from a distance and also get up quite close. They allowed personal photography as well so Kenn and I had fun with our phones. I found the details within the tapestries themselves captivating, from the animals and flowers to the different dresses and jewelry the Lady wears in each tapestry. And who doesn’t love a unicorn?
Having looked our fill, it was time for a late lunch. As we exited, beautiful scents wafted over from somewhere over in the corner and we decided that this would be our lunch destination. No wonder it smelt so good, we found ourselves seated at harbour view table for two in a Matt Moran restaurant!
We finished our visit to the Art Gallery with a quick runaround the free exhibits. I enjoyed this exhibition just as much but in a different way to the exhibition I attended when the Book of Kells came to Australia. Thanks to ‘Game of Thrones’, many now associate medieval times with political intrigue, violence, superstition and fantastical, fire breathing dragons but artistic masterpieces like these tapestries, tell us there was something more, something more poetic and gentle.
I heard on the news the other day, that the travelling King Tut exhibition is coming to Sydney before returning to Egypt. Another world treasure to look forward to! Maybe I’ll see you there.
Byron Dreamer 