Hunter Theatre

Babylon: the very name is evocative. Once one of the greatest cities in the ancient world, a vanished metropolis which lay deserted for over 2000 years, its history is bound up with myth and legend but it has never been forgotten. Biblical accounts of the Tower of Babel, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, Belshazzar’s Feast, the Fall of Babylon, the Whore of Babylon, and classical references to the great walls and Hanging Gardens have inspired artists throughout the centuries. This lecture also looks at the real Babylon, beside the River Euphrates, as explored and excavated since the 19th Century.

A realist painter of modern urban life, John Brack emerged as an artist during the 1950s and took as his principal subject the people and life of Melbourne.  He became one of Australia’s most challenging and important artists of the 20th century.