A LOVE affair with Morocco inspired Bryan Dawe to create the photographic exhibition on display at the Arnold Street Gallery.
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Dawe – well known as a writer, comedian, satirist and songwriter – unveiled his photo collage exhibition Tangier Illusions last night.
It is the first time Tangier Illusions has been shown in Australia and is on display until August 26.
“This is the exhibition I showed in Tangier in February but I have put a few new works in it since then,” Dawe said.
Dawe said he was drawn to Morocco after visiting Syria and Jordan.
“I had a friend in Fez who invited us to stay but it was five hours from the sea and having grown up in a port town, I can’t live away from oceans or rivers,” he said.
“So another friend suggested Tangier. I stayed there for two weeks, created an exhibition and fell in love with the place.”
An interest in photography has always followed Dawe around. He said he carried a camera everywhere but said he got knocked back from a photography course at RMIT.
“It was delicious years later to give a talk to heads of RMIT about being satirist, telling them how I was told I couldn’t be a writer, an actor, I couldn’t be on radio and they laughed,” Dawe said.
“Then I said ‘it’s your turn’ and told them about them knocking me back. I also invited them to my new exhibition the next week. It was delicious.”
Dawe’s Arnold Street exhibition coincides with his talks at the Bendigo Writers Festival.
“Arnold Street was suggested as a lovely, little, new gallery and I met the curators and got on really well and loved the space,” he said.
“It is perfect for the type of exhibition I'm doing. It’s a quirky space and my stuffs quirky. So it has turned into a nice collaboration.”
Dawe will speak at Maryborough Railway Station on Friday at 11am and the Engine Room in View Street on Sunday.
Friday’s talk will focus on his career as a satirist and work with John Clarke.
On Sunday, he will speak about Tangier and the creative people that were inspired by it.