Category Archives: cultural

A wonderful art gallery with a not so great café

This piece was originally uploaded in June 2023.

Before you wonder what the image above is about – it is a digitally altered photograph of the National Gallery of Australia here in Canberra. I’ll explain later in this piece.

Continue reading A wonderful art gallery with a not so great café

National Gallery of Australia closed galleries

NGA visit with quite a few friends missing

This piece was originally uploaded in May 2023

To more or less quote an art school lecturer, it is great to live in Canberra and to visit the National Gallery to see old friends.

Continue reading National Gallery of Australia closed galleries

Gardening and farming at the National Museum

This piece was originally published in September 2022

A visit to an exhibition at the National Museum of Australia provided the extra opportunity to have a look at the new garden at the entrance and to check out again the Garden of Australian Dreams.

Continue reading Gardening and farming at the National Museum

photography at the National Library of Australia

Viewfinder: Photography from the 1970s to Now

This piece was originally published in October 2022

The National Library is staging an exhibition of 125 documentary photographs, “Viewfinder: Photography from the 1970s to Now”. Continue reading photography at the National Library of Australia

Visiting ANU Drill Hall Gallery

This was published originally in August 2022

It was a recent photography exhibition by Catherine Rogers (closed 14th August) that brought home to me what a great space the ANU Drill Hall Gallery is.

Continue reading Visiting ANU Drill Hall Gallery

The disconnect between passionate Peter Dombrovskis and the ACT Greens

A Great photograph can bring about a myriad of memories as well as pose more mundane questions such as why political movements fail.

Continue reading The disconnect between passionate Peter Dombrovskis and the ACT Greens

The National Library trees and sculpture festival

How the NCA keeps getting it wrong!

The National Library of Australia forecourt should be a well-designed open space welcoming people to a key national institution. It is, sort of – but not quite!

Continue reading The National Library trees and sculpture festival

photography at the National Library of Australia

documentary photography exhibition

Viewfinder: Photography from the 1970s to Now

National Library of Australia exhibition, Friday 16 September 2022 until Monday 13 March 2023    Entry is free, curated by Matthew Jones

a link to the NLA page on the exhibition – click here

a tour of the exhibition click here

Visiting the National Gallery in Canberra

When the national Gallery opened in 1988, the exhibitions and their café became frequent destinations – a meeting place for locals, to take in the latest exhibitions while seeing old friends – the fabulous works in the permanent collections. Continue reading Visiting the National Gallery in Canberra

Marion Mahony Griffin – What A Life!

Particular major urban developments in Canberra have been promoted to be in line with the plans of Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin or somehow in the spirit of the Griffins.

Continue reading Marion Mahony Griffin – What A Life!

Marion Mahony Griffin’s vision for Canberra

and how it is being lost

When Marion Mahony Griffin provided those glorious drawings for the submission to design Canberra, she included a distant view of the mountains.

Continue reading Marion Mahony Griffin’s vision for Canberra

ACT Public Art and inequality

It was stunning to see the images of Premier Dominic Perrottet after NSW opened up on October 11; he welcomed people back to his version of normal – that of blokes, pubs, beers and more blokes. Women were absent.

Continue reading ACT Public Art and inequality

Kingston Arts Space reboot – maybe

Inner-south community groups received a curious, but welcomed, phone call on Thursday (November 4) from the communications officer of the ACT Suburban Land Agency (SLA).

Continue reading Kingston Arts Space reboot – maybe

Public Art in Canberra

When “Seven Days” columnist Ian Meikle remarked in “CityNews” on July 19 that the ACT Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Economy and Gender and Economic Equality is seeking submissions to its inquiry into memorialisation through public commemoration, it did raise an issue or two.

Continue reading Public Art in Canberra

National Capital Authority specializes in being patronising

residents should avoid contact with NCA

I begin this opinion piece about the National Capital Authority (NCA) by going back about 20 years to comments made during a parliamentary committee looking at the NCA.

Continue reading National Capital Authority specializes in being patronising

A day out in Braidwood

Making the time out to visit regionally

Earlier this month we ventured out for the day to meet a friend at Braidwood. She was from the south coast and so Braidwood meant we both travelled just over an hour.

Continue reading A day out in Braidwood

ACT Government ignores Commonwealth Park

Commonwealth Park neglected by government

Attention to a significant piece of national land is being overlooked among the misinformation used to justify the demolition of West Basin.

Continue reading ACT Government ignores Commonwealth Park

ACT Government and public sculpture

Need for a new public art policy

Sometime during the last election, a candidate said something about revising the public sculpture program initiated by Jon Stanhope when he was chief minister.

Continue reading ACT Government and public sculpture

Canberra’s missing arts centres

ACT Government failure on culture

In 2015, the now disbanded Land Development Agency announced the follow up to its 2011 master plan with the go-ahead for the Kingston Arts Precinct.

Continue reading Canberra’s missing arts centres

Floriade Canberra 2020

Flowers in the suburbs

It is all happening again in Kingston and, as with other locations throughout Canberra, Floriade Reimagined saw locals planting more than 8000 bulbs and annuals in May.

Continue reading Floriade Canberra 2020

Yarralumla does Christmas

Big Red Bows and a Jolly Suburb

Is there a more significant way of celebrating Christmas than with a tree?

Yes, with lots of trees! How about a suburb of trees? This is what the Yarralumla Residents Association is doing for Christmas this year.

Continue reading Yarralumla does Christmas

Griffin impugned for the West Basin’s awful future

Good journalism is welcomed and embraced. Journalism that is written to promote bad decisions by government must  be called out. Here’s an example of the latter.  The author, Tom Greenwell, starts well by making some points about Walter Burley Griffin’s planning for Canberra. But then he commits the crime of using Griffin’s name and visions to justify some outrageous developments being planned by the ACT Government (Urban Renewal Authority again!) that will destroy a wonderful part of the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin. Click here for the article in City News.

and for more about West Basin alternative facts – click here;  includes letters from Richard Johnstone of kingston – a supporter of West Basin developments.

And for more on the arguments against what Tom Greenwell has written – click here for a very well informed  piece by Penny Moyes, one of the Lake Burley Griffin Guardians.

The Art Newspaper – Wrong about The Bishop Museum

Bishop-museum

An open letter to The Art Newspaper( 29 July) plus correspondence (5 August 2016)

Over many years I have accessed the Art Newspaper and when appropriate have either passed on links or have posted articles online that have links back to the Art Newspaper.

Continue reading The Art Newspaper – Wrong about The Bishop Museum

Canberra Sculpture Walk proposal

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When reading the latest thought bubbles from the property lobby, it was difficult to avoid laughing out loud. In their quest to improve Civic business activity, the Civic property lobby has recommended that the ACT Government should hand over money to assist in the refurbishment of the Melbourne and Sydney buildings.

Continue reading Canberra Sculpture Walk proposal

Blue Poles at the museum

poles-P1150836

There is talk in the art world about the National Gallery of Australia’s (NGA) changes to their permanent collection galleries and how this has included the movement of the famous Jackson Pollock painting, Blue Poles, from its long historic position downstairs to the upstairs galleries.

Continue reading Blue Poles at the museum

Kingston Arts Precinct

There’s was a recent announcement that the government is calling for developers to put forward proposals to develop part of the Kingston Foreshore site as an arts precinct.

One wonders what their perception and concept of what is art precinct. Then there will be the issues that the government is looking for a commercial entity to propose an arts precinct.

Continue reading Kingston Arts Precinct

Dismaland

There’s been quiet a bit of writing online about Bansky’s latest project – Dismaland.

I am not sure what to make of it as theme parks would be something I would not even contemplate visiting. But yet, when irony is the theme, would I go. Still not sure. Meanwhile here’s a bunch of reviews and comments:

First the Guardian has a couple – one here and then another here.

The New Yorker writer writes from her own experiences of her holidays on the coast. click here.

The UK Telegraph liked it – click here.

and after reading all this – and looking at the videos and pictures – I am still not convinced.

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Paul Costigan