Here is the third post of my Highlights; today, the south bank of the Brisbane river, with its Art Galleries, Performing Arts Centre and State Library, along with the headquarters of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where my daughter Abigail works on the news programme), the Big Wheel, and the inspired South Bank Parklands, formerly the site of World Expo 88.
First, the River scenes from the area by the Art Gallery. In the gallery, I saw an exhibition called ‘Embodied Knowledge‘ which presented cultural art by aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In the gallery water mall I found an installation with floating white tablets, each of which represented a coroner’s report into an aboriginal death in custody across Australia: ‘Inert State’, a very moving and disturbing installation by artist Archie Moore.
After viewing the exhibitions here I went to meet Abigail at the ABC and we walked through the Arbour to a food court where we had lunch. I remembered this site when Expo 88 was held and I have many happy memories of the pavilions, the landscaping, the plaza and all the many exciting events and buildings and performances. The subsequent development and use of the site has been sheer inspiration. Here are further South Bank views.
Finally we visited the GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) to see an amazing art exhibition of works by the Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles. I was captivated by this exhibition. The first installation, I describe as “tiny boats of dreams, all suspended by black threads, and we all have different ideas of who’s holding the threads.” I found the exhibition dreamlike, profound, transformative.
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