Access keys | Skip to primary navigation | Skip to secondary navigation | Skip to content | Skip to footer |
Problems viewing this site
State Library of Queensland  ->  What's on  ->  Exhibitions and displays  ->  Past exhibitions-> Modern Times: the untold story of modernism in Australia

 

Upcoming events


Walking tour

Take a walking tour and discover significant modernist architecture in Brisbane’s CBD.
Article and map provided by Brisbane Modern magazine

Download the PDF [1.3 MB]
 

Children's Trail

Explore the Modern Times Children’s Trail for primary school children.  Download a copy of the trail before visiting the exhibition or pick one up at slq Gallery.

Download the PDF [600 Kb]
  

A modern shopping guide

 
View A Modern Shopping Guide to Brisbane in a larger map


Modern times

An exhibition presented by the State Library of Queensland
8 Aug – 8 Nov 2009


Jeff Carter, At the Pasha nightclub, Cooma c. 1957–59, gelatin silver photograph, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Purchased 2000

Modernism was a major international movement that spanned design, architecture and art and continues to influence the everyday lives of us all. Modern times: the untold story of modernism in Australia explores the transformation of all aspects of modern life and focuses on our unique experience of modernism. Objects drawn from five decades - 1917 to 1967 - reveal how our cosmopolitan culture was shaped.

This exciting Powerhouse Museum travelling exhibition presented at the State Library includes over 250 works across art, animation, fashion, design, film, photography and architecture. Themes include the modern body, the city, and the Space Age, the mass culture of cars, skyscrapers and the new entertainment landscape of cinemas, swimming pools and cafes - all legacies of modernism.

The exploration of modernism in Queensland will be a part of the State Library's season of Modern times, with public programs looking at the ways that we adopted and utilised the new modernist aesthetic and way of life.

Modern times: the untold story of modernism in Australia is showing at the State Library of Queensland, 8 August until 8 November, 2009.

A modernist vision of Australia - the interior of the Australian Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, 1967, designed both inside and out by James Maccormick and featuring Grant and Mary Featherston’s wing sound chairs. Photo courtesy National Archives of Australia.

View of the elevated restaurant, Centenary Pool, Brisbane. Photo: James Birrell.

For a modern experience at the State Library visit:

Level 1
Infozone: Temple of intoxication: salute to a forgotten monument (documentary)
The Corner: Haus – Bauhaus inspired space for under 8s
Level 2
slq Gallery: Modern times: the untold story of modernism in Australia
State Reference Library: Fashion, Architecture and Design reference material on display
State Reference Library: International handbag collection from the modernist period
The Red Box: Panoramic view of the modern riverside expressway
Level 4
Philip Bacon Heritage Gallery: Modern times: the untold story of modernism in Australia
John Oxley Library Reading Room: Materials of and about the modern era from the Australian Library of Art

 


Last reviewed and updated September 2, 2009, 1:55 pm