Masterpieces from the Hermitage: The Legacy of Catherine the Great multimedia tour

BACKGROUND: A co-presentation by Melbourne's NGV and Russia's Hermitage Museum, the exhibition Masterpieces from the Hermitage: The Legacy of Catherine the Great showcased one of the world's greatest art collections, featuring works by artists including Rembrandt, Rubens, Velázquez and Van Dyck. The curatorial framework highlighted the vision of Catherine the Great, whose inexhaustible passion for education, the arts and culture heralded a period of enlightenment in the region. The extraordinary works collected by Catherine during her thirty-four year reign embodied the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and created the foundations for the Hermitage today - considered to be one of the world's greatest art collections. CONTRIBUTION: My contribution was as researcher and scriptwriter developing a 14,000-word original manuscript that formed the script for the multimedia guide for the exhibition. The content was peer-reviewed by senior curators at the NGV and Mikhail Dedinkin, Senior Curator at the Hermitage, and the script was narrated by ABC broadcaster Virginia Trioli with audiovisual production by the NGV's multimedia team. The script required strong foundational art historical knowledge and a commitment to historical accuracy; however, it also required a creative approach to the writing of history and delivery of a script that could be engagingly performed. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The project required significant research across two areas. The first comprised the biography of Catherine The Great and the historical context of the European Enlightenment. Secondly, with the exhibition organised around art-historical schools (Flemish, Italian, Dutch, etc) significant research was undertaken into key artists, artworks and movements. The tour was available to hire on site on iPod touch, and continues to be available as a free podcast from the NGV's website and iTunesU. Auslan and captioned versions were also created.