The National Library of Australia
and the Arts Centre, Melbourne present

Nick Cave: The ExhibitionPortrait of Nick Cave

FINAL AUSTRALIAN VENUE

15 August – 29 November 2009
FREE EXHIBITION

National Library of Australia LogoVisions of Australiathe Arts Centre Logo

Notebook
Notebook known as Sacred and Profane, 1985
Gift of Nick Cave, 2006
the Arts Centre, Performing Arts Collection
Object photography courtesy of Dan Magree © 2007

The Last Show
The Last Show. The Boys Next Door,
Crystal Ballroom, Melbourne, 1980

Gift of Nick Cave, 2006
the Arts Centre, Performing Arts Collection
Object photography courtesy of Dan Magree © 2007

The Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Sacred Heart of Jesus, c.1950s – 60s
Nick Cave Private Collection
Object photography courtesy of Dan Magree © 2007

Nick Cave

He is a musician, a songwriter and an author.
He is also an Australian and a cult hero.
He is Nick Cave.
And now he’s the subject of his own show at the National Library of Australia.

Nick Cave: The Exhibition looks behind the music to the man himself through a collection of original lyrics, notebooks, artwork, photography and books as well as personal items from his home and office. They have all been selected by the artist in an exhibition that has been drawn from the 800 items donated by Nick Cave to The Arts Centre’s Performing Arts Collection in Melbourne.

“This has been a revealing and rewarding experience,” Nick Cave said of the exhibition.

“Much of this stuff has sat around in boxes for years and the process of ‘excavating’ it has been many things – moving, disturbing, inspiring and downright terrifying.”

Nick Cave: The Exhibition
National Library of Australia
15 August 2009 – 29 November 2009
Exhibition Gallery
9 am to 5 pm daily
Free exhibition

Download Exhibition flyer (PDF - 494KB)

EVENTS

Get Nicked, the Australian Music Trivia Night

Gather a team of friends and test your knowledge of Australian music. Special rounds will focus on Nick Cave and his music.

Friday 25 September, 6 pm
Foyer, $15 (includes free drink on arrival)
Drinks and light refreshments can be purchased
Bookings: 02 6262 1271

FILMS

The Proposition (2005)

104 min, MA 15+
A gun-slinging outlaw receives an impossible proposition following his capture by police. Stars Guy Pearce with screenplay by Nick Cave, music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

Thursday 27 August, 6 pm
Theatre, gold coin donation

Ghosts of the Civil Dead (1988)

128 min, R
Prison gangs clash in a high-tech security jail where there are no rules. Cave co-wrote the script, starred in and wrote the music for the film.

Thursday 15 October, 6 pm
Theatre, gold coin donation

TALKS

Curator Floor Talk

The Arts Centre’s Janine Barrand, curator of the exhibition, conducts a walk-and-talk through the exhibition.

Saturday 15 August, 2 pm
Exhibition Gallery, free

Nick Cave: The Reader

Discover what Nick Cave has on his bookshelf, from the works of Dostoyevsky, Victor Hugo and Thomas Hardy to the Holy Bible. Penelope Grist, the Library’s Exhibitions Branch Curatorial Assistant, explores the literary background that inspires Cave’s work as a writer across genres.

Thursday 1 October, 12.30 pm
Conference Room, free

Cold-blooded But Catchy:

The Nature and Origins of the Murder Ballad Justine van Mourik, the Library’s Registrar of Exhibitions and Loans, spares none of the gory details in tracing the origins of some of the traditional murder ballads that informed Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ album Murder Ballads (1996).

Tuesday 20 October, 12.30 pm
Conference Room, free

Nick Cave: Contemporary Musician, Contemporary Bard

Robyn Holmes, the Library’s Curator of Music, explores Nick Cave’s musical sensibilities through the exhibition and the Library’s collection of contemporary music.

Thursday 5 November, 12.30 pm
Exhibition Gallery, free

Flying the Coop

Join Chris Downton (aka DJ Evil Chris) as he discusses Australia’s limited audiences in the 1980s for bands such as Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and The Birthday Party and their London and Berlin experiences.

Friday 27 November, 4.30 pm
Foyer, $10 (includes a glass of wine and special entry to the exhibition)
Bookings: 02 6262 1271 or bookings@nla.gov.au

NICK CAVE MERCHANDISE

FROM THE NATIONAL LIBRARY BOOKSHOP
Take home a lasting memento of one of Australia’s modern music icons. Visit the National Library Bookshop and select from a unique range of Nick Cave: The Exhibition merchandise. Items include the publication Nick Cave Stories, CDs, t-shirt, poster, postcard and fridge magnet.

Relevant Links

Hide URLs Show URLs

Arts Centre
http://www.theartscentre.com.au

Visions of Australia
http://www.arts.gov.au/arts/visions_of_australia

Links to Nick Cave web resources

Nick Cave: the Exhibition at the WA Museum
http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/exhibitions/nickcave

Nick Cave video from the Arts Centre
http://assets.theartscentre.net.au/nickcave/play_doc.html

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds website
http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nick-Cave-The-Bad-Seeds/6542793033

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds MySpace page
http://www.myspace.com/nickcaveandthebadseeds

The Birthday Party website
http://www.thebirthdayparty.com.au

Grinderman website [warning this site contains flashing imagery]
http://www.grinderman.com

Unofficial Nick Cave fan sites:
http://www.fromthearchives.com
http://www.myspace.com/badseedsfans
http://morgansmusings.wordpress.com/music-pages/nick-cave

The Proposition
http://www.sonypictures.com.au/movies/theproposition
http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s1474241.htm

Ghosts of the Civil Dead
http://ghostsofthecivildead.com

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
http://jessejamesmovie.warnerbros.com

And the Ass saw the Angel
http://www.themodernword.com/reviews/cave_angel.html

The Death of Bunny Munro
http://forums.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com/viewtopic.php?t=22928

All Tomorrow’s Parties
http://www.atpfestival.com/Events/ATPSydney2009/View/EventInfo.php

Underland
http://www.sydneydancecompany.com/Repertoire/Underland/199

Portrait of Nick Cave by Howard Arkley
http://www.portrait.gov.au/exhibit/making_portraits/cave.htm

ABC’s Nick Cave Podcast
http://blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2009/05/nick-cave-gets.html

Former Band Members

Mick Harvey
http://www.mickharvey.com/home.html

Blixa Bargeld
http://www.blixa-bargeld.com

Barry Adamson
http://www.barryadamson.com

Kid Congo Powers
http://www.kidcongopowers.com

Hugo Race
http://www.myspace.com/hugoraceandthetruespirit

Tracey Pew
http://www.myspace.com/tracypew

Roland S Howard
http://www.myspace.com/rowlandshoward

Phil Calvert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phill_Calvert

Anita Lane
http://www.anitalane.com