The term “queer” might be new, but queer culture flourished in many ancient cultures, not the least among the ancient Greeks. NGV Senior Curator Dr Ted Gott invites Bernie Lewin of the Platonic Academy of Melbourne for one last stroll around the exhibition to discuss some of the antiquities and what they evoke of the sometimes charming, sometimes shocking, myths and practices of Europe’s most celebrated cultural ancestors.

Speakers

Bernie Lewin is a founding director of the Platonic Academy of Melbourne where he teaches ancient Greek philosophy. He has published widely in the history of science, including on the Platonic foundations of mathematics. Enthusiastic Mathematics: Reviving Mystical Emanationism in Modern Science is an historical introduction to Platonic science published by the Academy in 2018.

Dr Ted Gott is Senior Curator, International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and one of the co-curators of QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection. He has curated and co-curated more than 25 exhibitions, including Salvador Dalí: Liquid Desire and Napoleon: Revolution to Empire. He has published widely on Australian, British and French art, and in 2013 co-authored a cultural history of the gorilla in nineteenth and twentieth century art, literature, scientific discourse and cinema (Gorilla, Reaktion Press, London).