Nick Mitzevich: the year of living culturally

The Shock of the New, Ride Like a Girl and Sydney Dance Company impressed in 2019

National Gallery of Australia Director Nick Mitzevich with Claude Monet's Hatstacks, midday. Picture: Kym Smith

Favourite book

The Shock of the New by Robert Hughes. This book continuously reminds me that to actively contribute to the future we need to re-evaluate all we know about the past. It has inspired me to embrace the different and the unconventional.

Favourite movie / TV show

There was a strong connection to Rachel Griffiths’s directorial debut, Ride Like a Girl, picured below. Her heartfelt insight and her unwavering commitment to get this project off the ground was inspiring. It is a wonderful opportunity to elevate women.

Teresa Palmer as Michelle Payne in a scene from the movie Ride Like A Girl.

Favourite live show

Without doubt Sydney Dance Company’s 50th anniversary program. The genius of artistic director Rafael Bonachela and his ability to craft emotional narratives is unsurpassed. (Pictured below is a scene from Bonachela’s Cinco.)

Sydney Dance Company dancers perform a scene from Cinco during a preview at Roslyn Packer Theatre in Sydney, Monday, March 25, 2019. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett)

Future events

Apart from what you have in store, what arts event are you looking forward to most in 2020?

I can’t wait for Monster Theatres, the 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art curated by Leigh Robb. It will be a remarkable celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Biennial.

Emerging trends

What arts trend do you expect to emerge most strongly in 2020?

Internationally, Australian indigenous art will have a higher profile. Some projects to look out for: Tarnanthi presents Kulata Tjuta at the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, in Brittany, France; the National Gallery of Australia presents First Peoples’ Art of Australia in Singapore and China; and the continued Australian collaboration with Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection in the US.

Nick Mitzevich is the director of the National Gallery of Australia