NGV will turn into Picasso’s Parisian paradise with 36 concerts

Staff Writer’s Words

‘The Picasso Century’ will herald the return of NGV Friday Nights with 36 incredible concerts and Spanish bars and cuisine to ignite Melbourne’s winter masterpieces.

The NGV is such an inspiring cornucopia of cultural events that no sooner is the Friday Night Summer Series supposed to end than it heralds Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exploding into life.

From June 10, GNV The Picasso Century will be set to the alluring soundtrack of some of the city’s most renowned musicians; Ngaiire, Emma Donovan & The Putbacks, Harvey Sutherland, Snowy Band, Hobsons Bay Coast Guard, Surprise Chef, Horatio Luna… the list goes on.

Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.

36 different acts will play through NGV’s winter series Friday Nights until October 7, while the gallery’s Garden Restaurant will be entrusted to Bar Lourinhã by Matt McConnell and Jo Gamvros.

Every day at noon (11:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.) and Friday evening after 6 p.m., the garden will be filled with the flavors of croqetas de Jamon, braised beef cheek with manzanilla and blood orange crème caramel, while voices soul, DJ sets, instrumental jazz—the funk and ambient groove aim to bring audiences back to the joie de vivre that Picasso encountered when he moved to Paris in 1904.

Similarly, the NGV’s Yering Station Wine Bar and Pommery Champagne Bar in the Gallery Kitchen will serve a menu of plates and dishes to share, including ham and manchego croquetas, spiced beef albondigas (Spanish meatballs ), empanadas, churros and Basque-style burnt cheesecake.

The Garden Terrace Bar will also offer mulled wine and dessert, blankets and heaters. They have thought of just about everything.

Despite the dazzling display of musical and culinary excellence, the main attraction remains the Picasso’s centurya world premiere presentation retracing the extraordinary career of Pablo Picasso in dialogue with the artists, poets and intellectuals with whom he rubbed shoulders throughout the 20th century, including Georges Braque, Salvador Dalí, Alberto Giacometti, Françoise Gilot, Valentine Hugo, Marie Laurencin, Dora Maar, André Masson, Henri Matisse, Dorothea Tanning and Gertrude Stein.

The exhibition is exclusively developed for Melbourne by the Center Pompidou and the Musée national Picasso-Paris, and will feature more than 70 works by Picasso alongside more than 100 works by more than 60 of his contemporaries.

Tony Ellwood AM, Director of NGV, said: “Congratulations to NGV Friday Nights The Picasso Century exhibition and offers an enriched after-hours experience that immerses visitors in the artwork and venues of the exhibition, as well as musical performances and DJ sets by some of Melbourne’s top musical talent and a Spanish style kitchen. A wide range of visitors can enjoy NGV Friday Nights with its unique offering of food, dining and music, while experiencing the masterpieces on loan from Paris.

NGV Friday Night Programming

June 10 – NGAIIRE & Kia
June 17 – Emma Donovan and the Putbacks & Zjoso
June 24 – Horatio Luna & Nauva
July 1st – Proto Moro & Millu
July 8 – Elle Shimada & Billos + Klomp
July 15th – Hobsons Bay and Andras Coast Guard
22nd of July – Myllo & Loure
July 29 – ACOPIA & Vincent Sole
5 August – Polly and the Pockets & Louis McCoy
August 12 – The Seven Ups & Harvey Sutherland (DJ set)
August 19 – Solomon Sisay & Afrodisiac
August 26 – Snowband & Andras
September 2 – Velvet Flower and Kalyani
September 9 – Bird Snake and Pjenne
September 16 – Surprise Chef and College of Knowledge
September 23 – Polito & Vincent Sole
September 30 – Shadow Band & Sina from Traffik Island
October 7 – Sweet Whirl & The Dollar Bin Darlings

NGV Friday night will leave from June 10 – October 7 at NGV International, St Kilda Rd, Melbourne. More information and tickets are available here.