Belconnen Arts Group Exhibition at Qeanbeyan Arts Centre

Canberra has lots of Artist groups. Some have dedicated spaces such as Strathnairn and M16. Others are networks that meet for mutual learning and help. This exhibition is generated by one of the later groups.

The exhibition consists of photography, fabric art, sculpture, paining and other art forms. All of the pieces are on sale and the range of styles are wide. I really enjoyed some of the three dimensional work done with the letter P by xxxx. One large garden scene really took my eye and a set of three simple modern looking still life works featuring one vegetable each stood out.

I have attached a flyer and the gallery sheet and some publicity. The artist in the gallery seemed almost distressed by my taking some pictures and talked to me abut “for private use” and thecopyright stays with the artist.” so I have not included pictures of the works mentioned above.

Cloth, Paper, String – Jo Hollier and Barbara Dawson @ Belconnen Arts Centre

At the exhibition I got to chat with Barbara Dawson about her work. She works with felt, silk and many other materials using a fascinating set of dies and methods. She explained to me the use of metals and wires that are wrapped up in fabric that are soaked in dyes. Different metals react with dyes and fabrics to produce different colours. The ways the materials are wrapped show up in different patterns.
The overall look is warm and autumnal. A silk scarf had a look of tree bark. Some fabrics are richly stitched and use great colours
The Jo Hollier Works have a delightful hand made book structure. Using similar autumnal tones and natural dyes to give colour and tone she then constructs artist books. There are other constructs but the most striking are the books.
Beautiful – attractive and very inexpensive
Flyer gallery sheet and pics below

Magpies of Canberra – Frank Knight @ Belconnen Arts Centre

Magpies of Canberra is an exhibition by Frank Knight at Belconnen Arts Centre which is a celebration of a charming part of life in the capital. The paintings are simple and focus on the embededness of these birds in our city. A classic is the one on a speed sign, another is the one with the birds flying to land behind some walkers, they all point to the ever presence of Magpies in Canberra.

Some pics and ephemera below

Why it is so difficult to resolve peacefully intractable conflicts – Professor Daniel Bar-Tal @ Austrralian National University

Tonight I attended the annual Freilich Foundation Lecture on bigotry and tolerance  This year it was delivered by Professor Daniel Bar-Tal an Israeli Psychology academic. The title of his address was ‘Why it is so difficult to resolve peacefully intractable conflicts’. Some Israeli’s understand the nature of the participants mindset in these type of conflicts and Professor Bar-Tel created a rich, complex and nuanced explanation of the history and culture of these conflicts. He illustrated the story from many of these dreadful long term conflicts.

I found his analysis fascinating. The style of building cultures that are woven into pre-schoolers and reinforced by governments, academics media law to foster and maintain a mindset of loathing. It was nice to see even though he did not seem to have any worked out approach to change he was basically optimistic about potential of change. Below is the website for the lecture with some more information.

http://billboard.anu.edu.au/event_view.asp?id=109985

Dream home Small home @ Museum of Sydney

Some exhibitions match a collection of interests in one thing. This thing at the Museum of Sydney ticks all sorts of boxes with me. As a kid i wanted to be an architect. I have always loved urban planning and have been fascinated by housing. I used to take my kids each week to explore the building of a new suburb near our place before building sites were all fenced in.
This show looks at the developments in housing and suburbs after WW2. It explores function, materials, design, construction, prefabrication and suburban layout. For me it was exciting to see the range of floor plans, the exteriors, the roof lines and kitchens and interiors.
The exhibition has scale models, videos and discussion of the businesses that led the way in all aspects of the post war housing boom. One of the thing I loved about of this was to see that people actually lived and raised families in well built homes that were the size of a modern parent retreat in one end of a modern home.
Below is a set of pics. For me this was a very engaging exhibition. I think it is still on.
http://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/exhibitions/dream-home-small-home

Design Gate Markets and Dickson College Arts Show @ Dickson College

I get to see heaps of highly praised internationally renowned art and that is good. I always love exhibitions of unrecognised art. Canberra is well served with exhibitions of school students’ art and today I saw a fascinating display of such.
Dickson College held a combined Design Gate Markets and Dickson College Arts Show today. Various handmade arts and crafts retailers set up stalls in part of the hall space and in other open areas on the college there were displays of a wide range of student’s creative production. There were students playing live music, there were architectural plans and models, project clothing, photography, painting and several other art forms. The place was abuzz with parents, students, the general public. It had a great vibe of creative production by students and lots of people who have turned those skills into income streams.

Steve Trebilcock @ Paintbox Fine Art

I do not get into Paintbox Fine Art as often as I would like. Every time I go into their exhibitions the quality is high. This one is no exception. The blurb says that Steve Trebilcock has two passions – painting and gardening. The images on the wall ooze love for the subject. Each Trebilcock painting has a texture that makes you want to reach out and touch. Every image in the exhibition has a loving vitality about his detailed showing of vegetables, flowers, landscapes and other still life elements of gardens and gardening. There is a vibrant exuberance about the rich colours used to show these garden elements.
For better shots go to the website http://www.paintboxfineart.com

Eighteenth annual photographic competition for Queanbeyan and ACT school students @ Australian National Botanic Gardens

Photography has many styles and uses. The ANBG holds an annual photographic competition for regional high school students focused on the gardens. There are a set of categories and awards are made in each. The students demonstrate skills in choice, composition, creativity and the use of the digital technologies. The results are great, especially considering a very constrained subject matter.
Below are a sample

Canberra – Then and Now @ National Library of Australia

On the fourth floor of the NLA there is a small exhibition space outside the conference room. At present there is a set of photographs titled Canberra – Then and Now. For an old Canberran it is a treat. It consists of pairs of photographs with accompanying text. The pairs are of an old photo and a recent photo of the same shot with a view to record the transformation of a city over time. The exhibition is drawn from a book produced by the NLA that is one of the many now available tracking the development of Canberra

Modulations – Peter Vandermark @ Canberra Contemporary Art Space Braddon

Industrial carpentry is primarily functional. Peter Vandermark has turned the materials and skills of industrial carpentry to produce visually arresting art. Some of it looks like air conditioning, tubing and lighting, There are pieces that look like architectural models and other constructions. The variety of materials and colours keeps the interest high. Below are some pics and the gallery sheet.