Maggie Fergusson

For anyone who loves museums of all kinds, any kind. Uneven of course: Allison Pearson's snotty, flippant take on the Musee Rodin was particularly irritating; Julian Barnes's elegiac visit to Sibelius's house was deeply touching, as was Michael Morpurgo's trudge through Ypres's tribute to Flanders fields. The writers (heavily skewed British) muse (pun intended) on the effects of a specific piece of art, how their feelings about museums have evolved over a lifetime, how a certain museum or artist shed light upon the writer's own history, how one person with a quirky passion creates a collection that speaks to visitors down the centuries and across the world. Some of us love the austere hush of traditional museums, some of us revel in weird installations, some think kids should be banned, others think they should be forcibly exposed. But I ended up wanting to visit nearly every museum in this book... well, maybe not the Abba Museum in Stockholm...… (mais)

I finally picked up Treasure Palaces edited by Maggie Fergusson last month. This is a series of essays by authors writing about the museums they treasure and it was published in December 2016.

Originally published as a series in Intelligent Life called 'Authors on Museums', writers were asked to return to a museum that had played a significant role in their life and write about the experience.

Maggie Fergusson took over the commissioning of the series after its establishment by Tim de Lisle, and at the end of the series a total of 38 essays had been published. Here Fergusson has curated the best 24, and I enjoyed reading them.

A particular highlight for me was Tim Winton's essay on the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne) entitled 'Spurned No Longer', which began with his first visit as a scruffy nine year old boy, initially refused entry because he was barefoot. The NGV was an icon for me in my teenage years, and I'd never have imagined living less than 500m from the grand entrance on St Kilda Road many years later.

What I did find interesting was the inclusion of art galleries in this collection of essays, which raised the question: "what's the difference between a gallery and museum?" A little online digging informed me that a gallery is where you can see the art with a view to purchasing it, which makes me wonder if the NGV is suitably named after all.

Another highlight in the collection was the essay by Aminatta Forna about The Museum of Broken Relationships, and not because I've been there but because I've read about it.

Treasure Palaces edited by Maggie Fergusson was an enjoyable read, however it was often interrupted as I went to seek out the artworks being referenced within the essays. There are no photographs or images of exhibits included in the text and this would certainly have enhanced my reading experience if there had been.

Recommended for armchair travellers, art lovers, bookworms interested in learning about treasured authors and non fiction readers with an interest in art and science.

* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *… (mais)

An interesting listen, about someone I think, on balance, I'm quite glad I don't know. Told as 7 chapters of a life, Michael Morpurgo responds to each with a short story. The best of the short stories was the second, about meeting the ghost of Thomas Becket, and the 6th, about sailing into a Fjord and finding a sole person trying to keep his village alive.
I'm not going to try and describe this is much detail, it is a life, and it continues to the present day. I'm just not sure that I'd like him, if we met...… (mais)