Australian Centre for Contemporary Art artistic director Max Delany says his "spacially aware" dog gives him a friendly way to meet people.
When do you visit commercial galleries?
My youngest daughter and my wife go horseriding so I often have Saturday as a gallery day to visit exhibitions.
I have my whippet Billie with me as companion.
How do people react when you bring her into a gallery?
Dogs are a way to meet people because people feel very friendly towards them. Whippets are beautiful and curious.
She’s a very sleek and spatially aware animal, so she can come into galleries with me.
Did you have a pet as a kid?
We had various dogs, but funnily enough with Billie, I was the one in the family who was most resistant to getting a dog. It was our two girls who were keen to get a pet. I held out the longest but recently I’ve become a very devoted parent to her.
Do you walk her?
Yes. She provides me with a very good alibi to go for long, extended walks, wander around Melbourne aimlessly. I love walking around the back streets and laneways, exploring the social histories, giving myself over to the local narratives, the ambience.
Why this pursuit?
It’s a combination of thinking time and relaxation and exercise, but there’s a lot to learn from looking closely at local history, beyond the official mainstream history. I’m interested in the psycho-geography and personality of a city. It’s not just about the main civic boulevards, buildings and facades, to me it’s more about the back streets and laneways, the counter-narratives and subcultures, the hidden and repressed histories of a city. Many years ago I lived in Paris; that is one great walking city. I would regularly walk without destination – literally start in one place and just meander, be open to a sense of discovery.
Do you like living in Melbourne?
Yes, it has a wonderful cultural context. I’m very keen on architecture and there’s a strong community of practice and theory here.
Does anything annoy you about it?
Recently, I’ve been noticing ugly buildings and inappropriate developments. I’m all for density, so I’m not concerned about the heights of buildings, it’s more the bad design and poor materials. The new buildings are not addressing the streets they’re in; they’re not contributing to the civic culture.
Favourite Melbourne restaurant?
Andrew McConnell’s Cumulus Inc. On a number of occasions I’ve sought to emulate and cook Andrew’s recipes. I’ve learnt to master the tuna tartare with goat’s curd and smashed pea. Cooking definitely takes my mind off things.
Is that your trademark dish?
Yes tagine as the main, tuna tartare as entrée.
Yours is a very night-heavy job. Do the long hours bother you?
It’s a very interesting role because you have the opportunity to engage with a whole lot of people: artists, architects, media, patrons. So it does allow you access to all walks of life, but yes it’s challenging balancing work and family and other responsibilities.
How do you achieve that balance?
Every year with my family, we go on a summer retreat to the NSW South Coast. It’s outside of mobile phone range, so it’s the one time of the year I get to read five or six novels, go surfing, get fit, or pretend to get fit. The company of friends is also very important and it’s something I value.
You left a senior curatorial role at the National Gallery of Victoria last year to take over at ACCA. What drew you to it?
ACCA had a great history of achievement and our focus now is on commissioning artists directly to create bold, adventurous work. That part was very attractive.
How do you read the news?
I’ve always been an avid newspaper reader, but I no longer read hard copy. I read the daily news on my phone and through social media. I have to read a lot of arts journals, so I still have paper subscriptions to those.
Are you a reluctant social media user?
No, I actually enjoy it, even though I’m not a prolific producer. Instagram has changed the way we engage with the world. It allows you to look at international exhibitions and events through other people’s feeds. From Australia you can become quite familiar with what’s happening in the wider world.
If you weren’t a curator what you be?
Perhaps I’d like to make documentary films on artists and architects.
Come on Max. No fantasy to be a fireman lurking in there?
Well actually it would be something to do with the water! It would be something on the coast, near the water, some sort of role that took me near the ocean.
Like a pro surfer?
I’m beyond that, unfortunately.
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The AFR Magazine's annual Arts issue is out on Friday, February 24 inside The Australian Financial Review.
