Australia 8/19/2022 - 9/6/2022 |
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Sunday 9/4/2022 - Art Gallery of Western Australia, Father's DayToday would be our last full day in Australia. We woke up at around 9 a.m., and then took showers. We had a breakfast of oat/raisin/egg pancakes and coffee.The Sonams had asked whether we would be interested in going to an art gallery today. We didn't want to do anything too strenuous, since we would have a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow. Craig was a little worried that his backmight start to hurt after spending the day in a museum and cause him some trouble on the flight, but we decided that a relatively short visit to the museum would be a good way to spend our last day. So at around noon, we headed into the city of Perth to the Art Gallery of Western Australia. On the first floor was an exhibit called Balancing Act, which speaks to politics in Aboriginal art. Sandra Hill's artwork depicted the Transitional Housing Scheme and Homemaker Program instituted in the 1950's to force Aboriginal families into the Anglo-Australian nuclear family structure / value system. Her oil paintings show Aboriginal women in scenes of 1950's home-maker-hood, from preparing food in the kitchen to getting their hair done in beauty salons populated with white women. Many artworks take familiar motifs, such as the Madonna and Child, or a literal Bible, and subvert them. Da Vinci's Dreyfus Madonna is used by Richard Bell in his "One More Hour of Daylight" to shed light on the Ruby Plains Massacre. He juxtaposes the Madonna and Child with words and Aboriginal imagery to invoke the question of why Christian values (thou shalt not kill) are not extended to Aboriginal peoples. Karla Dickens' mixed media art pieces tackle The Native Institute, a "crash-course in assimilation" whereby young girls were trained in white domestic skills, such as needlework. Dickens' art contains embroidery as well as needles/nails that spell out such phrases as "Good intentions." There were also bibles with nails driven through them, or cowrie shells or animal spines attached to the covers. These exhibits were interesting and uncomfortable, speaking to the colonialist indoctrination which has taken place in the fairly recent past. Though the Aboriginal people have successful culture lasting tens of thousands of years, they were forced into abiding by white societal norms with no regard for their unique and special heritage. Next was an exhibit called "Dis/Possession: Identity and Sense of Place." This exhibit is anchored by two art works painted ~100 years apart, one by a colonist and one by a Gooniyandi artist. There are also other works from the State Art Collection, showing the different preoccupations of rural Australia at a given time, whether it is of pastoral landscapes ripe for exploitation, or life as a worker in cattle stations. Some of the paintings of Aboriginal artists are rendered on sheep or cow hides. The next exhibit was called "Collective Ground", and is divided into exhibits based on women's and men's "creation lines." Many of the women's artworks here concern the Seven Sisters Tjukurba, related to the Pleides constellation. This was a very interesting exhibit, as the ambient light was quite low, and the art was illuminated in a way that called to mind black lights. It gave the impression of looking at stars against an inky night sky. Although most of the artwork consisted of paintings, there were also photographs, drawings, and clothing. Many families were having fun at an interactive exhibit called "Boorongur" curated by Sharyn Egan. Boorongur means "totem", and this exhibit asks folks to think of a personal totem (animal or plant) and create it using raffia and wool yarn. These Boorongur were hung up on the walls and there were literally thousands of them. They were colorful and creative, and if we had more time, or kids in tow, we would have probably made our own. Upstairs was an exhibit called "Heaven's Spot", where they had Perth's anonymous graffiti artist KEOS decorate their walls. There was also a short video about KEOS. After exploring that, we went outside to the roofdeck for a sculpture walk. We then went to the gift shop and noticed Sonam Choki admiring an Aboriginal art print called "Country Dreaming." It was quite stunning, painted in a muted palette and incorporating the dot painting technique that we had seen at Uluru. We purchased it, pretending that it was for ourselves, when we actually intended to give it to them as a surprise housewarming gift. We left the museum at around 3:30. I wanted to buy a USB drive to back up my photos and to get copies of Sonam Choki's photos. Sonam Tshering dropped us off at an Officeworks store while he went to get gas. We bought the USB drive, and it took him a while to come back. When he picked us up, Craig noticed that he hadn't filled the gas tank. He said that the price had been too high at the gas station, so we stopped at a different station on the way home. Gas prices must vary quite a bit from station to station, we thought. We got home at around 4:45 p.m. While we packed, the Sonams made us a late lunch of ema datshi, mushroom datshi, and fried ricotta. There were still quite a few hot peppers left, and Sonam wanted to use them before we left, knowing how much Craig loves them! Before we could eat, they brought out a Father's Day cake with lighted candles and the whole works. Today was Australian Father's Day (in the United States, Father's Day is in June). Getting gas had been a ruse; Sonam Tshering had really gone to pick up the cake. He laughed that Craig had been so observant about the fact that he hadn't gotten gas. It's difficult to surpise us, but they pulled it off! Someone had mentioned Father's Day at the Fremantle Markets yesterday, and apparently they had cringed, thinking that their surprise might be spoiled. They are so sweet, and they truly treat us like parents. We started with a slice of cake and then proceeded to eat lunch/dinner at around 6 p.m. We sat and chatted and had drinks. In keeping with our theory that the koalas are only active when nobody is around to see it, we told them about the classic 1955 Warner Brothers cartoon "One Froggy Evening". We were able to find it online and watched it on my computer. We gave them the art print that we had bought at the museum. Their nice new apartment had some free wall space, and we knew that Sonam Choki had been admiring this piece of art. We thought that it would be a nice reminder of our time together. They gave us gifts as well, including amulets depicting Green Tara, who happens to be both Craig and my Bhutanese astrological deity. We went to bed at 11 o'clock. We were sorry to see our time with the Sonams draw to a close. Art Gallery of Western Australia |
 The Sonams approaching the Art Gallery of Western Australia  Exhibits at the Art Gallery of Western Australia  Exhibits at the Art Gallery of Western Australia  Sculpture walk on the roof, Art Gallery of Western Australia  A Father's Day surprise See all photos from September 4 |
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