Artwork in the Special Collections Reading Room
The Special Collections Reading Room on Level 1 houses art relating to Australian history and culture in the post-colonial era, focusing on modern Australian people and places.
Finding Kenneth Myer
Finding Kenneth Myer 2011, wool and cotton; 230 x 302cm, Special Collections Reading Room
Finding Kenneth Myer was donated by the Myer family through the Tapestry Foundation of Victoria in 2011. It commemorates the life and adventures of American-born Australian patron of the arts Kenneth Baillieu Myer AC DSC (1921-1992). In 1961, Myer was a founding member of the National Library Council and, from 1974 to 1982, was Chair of Council.
5 March 2021
A small but striking sculpture on display in the Special Collections Reading Room symbolically invites you to discover the National Library’s extensive Music Collection. This year’s Friends Creative Arts Fellow David Wickham will explore and share with us the works of composer Frederick Septimus Kelly but there is much more to be found.
The sculpture
Open Book shows a conductor, arms outstretched with a baton in his hand. Gifted to the Library in memory of English-born Australian composer Peter Tahourdin (1928-2009), the work is by Dutch artist Wiea Duintjer (b. 1951).
Wiea Duintjer 1951- and Peter Tahourdin 1928-2009, Open Book sculpture 2013, nla.cat-vn6454969.