Mirka Mora celebrated in a very personal exhibition at Heide

Heide Mirka Mora Untitled 1983Heide Museum of Modern Art celebrates Mirka Mora’s remarkable life and career with a major exhibition of her drawings and soft sculpture dolls, and a publication that delves into Mirka and Georges Mora’s extraordinary lives and impact on Melbourne’s artistic and culinary landscapes.

The works in Mirka Mora: Pas de Deux – Drawings and Dolls come from the artist’s home and studio, and many will be on display for the first time. For Mirka these two art forms went hand-in-hand: “My dolls are my drawings in three-dimensions,” she said.

The myriad works in the exhibition offer a glimpse into Mirka’s enchanting private universe, where hybrid characters derived from fairy tales, folk art, surrealism and the artist’s vivid daydreams intermingle. Together they create a compelling portrait of Mirka’s innermost self.

A beloved and central figure in the story of Heide, Mirka Mora long captured the public imagination with her distinctive art and inimitable personality. The acclaimed artist died on Monday 27 August 2018 at the age of 90.

“We are so pleased to honour Mirka’s life and work in this exhibition, which has been in the planning for several years,” said Lesley Harding, Artistic Director at Heide Museum of Modern Art. “It is a timely tribute to an artist who made an immense contribution to Australian cultural life. Mirka will be greatly missed, but she leaves a wonderful legacy through her art.”

The exhibition coincides with the release of a new book, Mirka & Georges: A Culinary Affair by Heide’s Lesley Harding and Kendrah Morgan – which surveys the vitalising effect the Parisian couple had on Australian art and food after their arrival in 1951, and includes classic French recipes, photographs, and Mirka’s sensuous and colourful artworks.


Mirka Mora: Pas de Deux – Drawings and Dolls
Heide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Road, Bulleen
Exhibition continues to 24 March 2019
Free admission (after museum entry)

For more information, visit: www.heide.com.au for details.

Image: Mirka Mora, Untitled (sketchbook page) 1983, fibre-tipped pen and gouache on paper – courtesy the artist and William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, © Estate of Mirka Mora