Architecture commission reimagines The Parthenon, but is it appropriation?

Graffiti, rock concerts and a call against selective democracy, The Parthenon is ‘defaced’ for a contemporary audience.

This article has been updated on 12 August with comments from the Hellenic Museum.

Today (11 August) the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) announced the latest instalment of its Architecture Commission series, a replica of The Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens.

Titled Temple of Boom by Melbourne based architect and designer Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang, the site-specific work will be housed in the NGV Garden from 16 November through into 2023. The official media release explains the structure, ’reflects the slow yet unstoppable processes of change that transform all cultural, geological and ecological systems.’

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Celina Lei is an arts writer and editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. Most recently she took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne.