
One of the worlds only autobiographical museums reopened last weekend after a three year restoration project. The Grainger Museum at Melbourne University was instigated and funded by the composer himself, and contains a vast array of his possessions and memorabilia.
As well as musical items, scores and adapted instruments, the collection also contains items that relate to other aspects of his unusual lifestyle. Sadomasochism and pornography were two of his more colourful hobbies, and the new displays include examples of his explicit photography and whips with which he beat himself.
The museum closed in 2007 following the discovery of rising damp in the building. Its reopening has provided an opportunity to reassess some of the more controversial aspects of his personality, and the displays are less coy than in the past, not only about the composer's sexual habits but also his problematic racial politics, specifically his ardent and life-long anti-Semitism.
But it is the pornography that has been causing the most debate in the months leading up to the reopening. Grainger himself was cautious about its public display following Eugene Goosens' arrest on pornography charges in 1956. Australian attitudes are clearly more liberal these days, and the curators are confident that nothing on display contravenes any federal laws.
The Grainger Museum at the University of Melbourne Parkville Campus is open Tuesday to Friday and Sunday, 1-4.30pm. Visit the website:
http://www.grainger.unimelb.edu.au/