closed today... but not for long I hope

Yesterday's news of the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand made me think of this lovely city that I visited in January. The City's Art Gallery still standing even if It had become the HQ for Civil -Defence.

Christchurch Art Gallery

This contemporary building fared well... unlike a number of the cities older stone civic buildings and of course the homes of many.

The foyer of the gallery today operating as HQ

Geographically a stunning region this map shows two extinct volcanoes and makes for incredibly picturesque travelling. Unfortunately the fault-line in the region is such that locals are mentally prepared for the fact of earthquakes... as much as one can be. By all accounts physical injury was not
great, but loss is significant and many will no doubt struggle.
The Govt turned away foreign aid saying the civil disruption is not at the same level of critical emergency some countries suffer despite the size and severity of the quake. It is spring there... but given Christchurch can turn on a freezing day in the midst of summer I know there will be a lot of people missing their warm cosy beds in this southern region close to the mountains and ski-fields!

aerial view

This map was found here.

In February I wrote a post on the wonderful Christchurch Arts Centre where I met some of the artists with permanent studios there. Read the post here.

Tapestry by Marilyn Rea-Menzies

Whilst there I enjoyed time in Marilyn's studio talking with her whilst looking at her extensive body of work - both tapestry and pastel drawing. Visiting on her blog tonight I was delighted to see the tapestry she'd been working on in January was being cut off the loom at a special studio party in August. Read that post here. It was great to see a celebration taking place - so much work goes into a tapestry ...it needs to be "launched"!

Here's Marilyn on the left

Cutting the warp threads

the finished work!

More of Marilyn's work....

from a series of drawings on native new zealand plants.

Marlborough rock daisy I

native manuka - what manuka honey comes from

The Koromiko - a native NZ hebe

Iris berries

Go to Marilyn's contact page if you want to contact her (buy a work even?)

Im sure all visitors here would, like me, hope that Marilyn, Serena and everyone over there is fine and wish everyone our best with the work to get life back on track!

Serena Williams at work in her studio (see art centre post)

Whilst looking at the gallery site I found these works from the permanent collection of the Christchurch Art Gallery.

Buck Nin: The Mamkus circus 1975

John Pule: Nuka Lafalafa 1994

Colin McCahon: Tomorrow will be the same but not as this is 1958-1959

Bashir Baraki: Triptich landscape, Canterbury

Euan Mcloud: Plateau 3 1992

The next few days...

Read about this event on at the moment in Brisbane if there's a chance you can get along to the State Library between now and Sunday! Click here!!!!

from the program on Saturday afternoon....

Robert Forster writes what he sees around 

him: Brisbane. Matthew Condon writes of 

the city of his youth: Brisbane. The family 

memoirs of William McInnes reflect his home 

town: Brisbane. Matt Howard, especially 

chosen for his self-described ignorance of all 

things Brisbane, leads the debate on writing 

Brisbane as character. 

Tickets $16 qtix 

Presented by ourbrisbane.com 

     

from the Robert Forster Website.

Looking up the Festival program I found these wonderful images at the CITY OF SOUND blog of the venue for the Writers festival.... The Queensland State Library

Looking form GoMA

entrance

open interior

breezeway

breezeway

interior: looking up 

interior: looking across from the 4th floor

looking to river

typical queensland look...tree next to verandah

looking from river -there's the Glass Box reading room!

verandah looking across freeway

Glass box reading room

Reading room looking down river

4th floor...gallery area

verandah looking to river walkway

stone fire pit... leading out of indigenous knowledge centre

looking across to GoMA - Gallery of Modern Art 

gigantic patterend screen

known to staff as "The shower curtain"

ground floor computer area

breezeway wi-fi

external section of cafe with overhanging roof and no walls - great in sub-tropical rain

Please go to the website post for excellent text and more photos. This building won awards for its design... and each time I'm there it wins me over... 

Principal Architect Timothy Hill of Donovan Hill is quoted here: SLQ website:

“‘The design is all about creating an open space which, unlike many public buildings of the past, is neither intimidating nor conventional. I want visitors to be able to look inside without having to go in. People are more comfortable if they can visit a few times and see what’s there without having to actually go in.’

“Hill says that the biggest compliment that could be made about his building is if people feel that it’s the kind of place they could meet for a date."

‘The new State Library is deliberately ambiguous so that people can find in it something that they can recognise from their point of view. I didn’t want to make an icon. An icon is just a symbol. I hope that people can know before they come here that they are welcome, and that it is open-ended about what you do there. That will be the best way for it to become a favourite. Libraries are social, community and wmeeting places, as well as learning centres. I think we have achieved all this and more.’” [Timothy Hill, Donovan Hill]

'Rose Window' by Jennifer Cecere (2009)

'Rose Window' by Jennifer Cecere (Socrates Sculpture Park, 2009) 

'Ins & Outs' installation by Jennifer Cecere (Rockland Center for the Arts, 2010)

These three images and story of the artist Jennifer Cecere were found at the wonderful blog of Abigail Doan,  writer, editor, and environemntal artist.

 Quoting the artist Abigail Doan she says of her work:  "My eco-textile and art farming projects are a means to create sustainable solutions and key visual links to the global challenges we collectively face."  Below are artworks of Doan.

THE LAND - an art site. (above and below)

REgeneration / REseeding

Paper Seed Trails.

on another tangent....found through Abigail Doan's blog was the blog: free-soil which had great listings of all kinds of projects and information.... like

12 Sep 2007 UNIDEE in Residence Italy

"UNIDEE in Residence is an international residence program open to students and graduates of various university faculties, to artists and to professionals from any country in the world. It operates in synergy with the other Cittadellarte offices and is based on the following declaration by the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto: “Art is the most sensitive and comprehensive expression of thought, and the time has come for the artist to assume responsibility for establishing communication between every other human activity, from economics to politics, from science to religion, from education to behaviour, in brief all areas of the social fabric” (Progetto Arte manifesto, 1994 - see the complete pdf version)."

 - I know there's a bit of reading here...but if you dive in you will, I promise, go on a journey of the mind! I love how people are getting energised and no longer waiting for the great "they" to do something.

CALL FOR FUTURE

A call for pioneering initiatives both in and for Berlin

What if there was one more hour in the day … how could we make good use of this 25th hour? The ÜBER LEBENSKUNST project got underway on April 21, 2010 with a global call for groundbreaking ideas that bring together culture and sustainability. The CALL FOR FUTURE was published in 10 languages and is geared towards everyone who wants to take seemingly impossible ideas and turn them into a reality both in and for Berlin - whether individuals, residential communities, citizen initiatives, associations or families. 

The overwhelming response to the CALL FOR FUTURE is evidence that there are already many ideas and models that encourage people to reshape their day-to-day lives and think about the future in their actions. More than 850 local initiatives and individuals – often together with international partners – submitted their project ideas. The applications came from around the world: Paris, London, Barcelona, Helsinki, New York, Lithuania, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Poland, Mexico, South Africa, Japan, Israel, Hungary, Thailand, ...

ÜBER LEBENSKUNST wants to support these unconventional thinkers, create a network for them to exchange ideas and make them visible to a broad audience. The motto is: Everyone's a part! The more people that get involved, the more exciting the quest for sustainable lifestyles will be and the more likely success is.

An international jury selected 14 projects. These projects will receive both conceptual and financial support of up to €20,000. It is important to ÜBER LEBENSKUNST to firmly anchor these projects in the city itself and give all Berliners the opportunity to see and experience them.

Here are a few initiatives that were chosen to roll out.

POWER THE CITY! DIE STROMAKTIVISTEN
Generate Your Own Power!
Project Holders: Martin Keil, Henrik Mayer / Reinigungsgesellschaft

In a Berlin gym adolescents are given the chance to generate electric power through muscle power which is then fed into the local power grid. The goal is to initiate an open discourse on equal opportunities and equal participation of unprivileged and marginalized young people. At the same time, the project contributes to an alternative power generation.

SOCIAL SEEDS – On Life Diversity in Community Gardens in Berlin
Project Holders: Alexandra Becker, Britta Pichler

Through the cultivation of old, rare and regional useful plants in community gardens in Berlin, new agro-socio-biotopes will be created in which social and biological diversity can thrive.
SUSTAINABLE SUSHI
A Restaurant as Art – On the Politically Correct Interpretation of a Japanese Delicacy 
Project Holders: Max Schumacher / post theater (new yok / berlin / tokyo)

Regional and sustainable sushi will be served in a temporary restaurant. The interrelation between food and ecology will be presented to visitors in a sensual way.

I like the SOCIAL SEEDS one... and not just because of the obvious link to my interests but because I have been musing on the link between bio-diversity and social diversity for some time.

Read more about the intitatives:

ÜBER LEBENSKUNST also wants to bring the themes of culture and sustainability to schools. TheÜBER LEBENSKUNST.Schule educational program, which was jointly developed with the Future Institute of Berlin's Free University, will prepare 18 selected artists and creative individuals from throughout Germany for their work with students. The 10-month program begins in September 2010.