David Nisbet

Review of Ian Potter Center, NGV

With a day to spare I decided to investigate the I...

With a day to spare I decided to investigate the Ian Potter Centre of the NGV.
Getting in was a small problem as the main entrance is not really clearly indicated. One of the NGV hosts indicated where the door is.
Upon entry I was informed that my backpack had to be checked in and I have no problem with this. But the other host was a bit quick of the mark and almost demanded an immediate surrender of my backpack while I was extracting my camera. His attention was not appreciated and he was informed as such.
Next action was to hand in my backpack and was accomplished with pleasantries.
Now to wander of to view the paintings and other artistic offerings.
Without any signage to clearly indicate where I could wander I went to a doorway and was curtly informed that this was a paid entry. The female host made it clear I was most unwelcome without an entry ticket, indicating that she was the signage .
Where to now? As I said there seems to be no clear signage of gallery displays and blindly wandered around till I found an exhibition.
But this was only the ground floor. The other exhibitions are on the second and third floors. There are stairs to climb, but as I have crook knees a lift (elevator) would be perfect or even an escalator. Again no signage. I discovered where the lift and escalators were after my visit to the third floor by accident.
The cafe is also on the third floor. The pocket bread sandwich, in my opinion, is over priced at $14. A cost of $10 would have been reasonable. Even the humble pie is priced at $14.
I enjoyed the stroll around the exhibits and would go back to see the artistic offerings I didn t have time for.
But, the manners of some of the hosts need to be improved along with clear signage of galleries, lifts and escalators.