Offerings

I was interested to hear that a collection of over 1,000+ prints had been offered to the National Gallery by the Megalo Print Studio but not accepted into the collection.  Being an ex-librarian, I understand the implications of such an acquisition, so I could understand to some degree (this being a large local collection), but I was interested in seeing the prints anyway.  A small sample were on exhibition at Megalo's premises in Kingston.  Megalo is a Canberra institution dating back 40 years, having originated in a tin shed in the Ainslie Village in the 1980.  For Canberra, that's an institution.  They have a small collection on show in the workshop's foyer.  I recognised a few names and various techniques and a few historical themes, many political - Fraser, Whitlam, Howard, feminism, class, events.  Printing seems to have always been a political medium.  It had me thinking back to the '60s/'70s screen printing scene: everyone had posters on walls, for bands and more; poster shops were institutions; every demo had its prints.  It was a peoples' artform although not without its skills.  My indulgence for a short time was linoprint and I still love the mediaeval effect of woodblock printing.  So, this was in some ways a visit to a past that's somewhat replaced by newer technologies.  But if the return of vinyl means anything, it suggests that art forms of all eras tend to co-exist.

The Megalo Print Studio is in Kingston.