Australian TV Launches Reality Show 'Everyone's a Critic' to Demystify Contemporary Art

ABC TV Australia has launched 'Everyone's a Critic', a nine-episode reality show produced by Matchbox Pictures, where pairs of friends, family members, and spouses—many visiting a museum for the first time—tour galleries and comment on artworks. The show aims to address common dismissive phrases like 'I could have done that' by exposing participants to contemporary art in institutions including the National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Lyon House Museum, and Campbelltown Arts Centre. Each 30-minute episode features brief explanations of works before participants roam and offer sarcastic or personal reflections. The format draws inspiration from the British series 'Gogglebox', which was also adapted in Italy by Mediaset. While the show questions whether participants can become true art connoisseurs in nine episodes, it has already attracted hundreds of thousands of Australian viewers and sparked social media engagement with selfies and comments about the featured art. The article references Francesco Bonami's 2007 book 'Lo potevo fare anch''io' (Mondadori) as a prior attempt to address similar skepticism.