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
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



