Cruising Montreal to New York

Sometimes the intensity of colour that nature delivers appears almost unbelievable if you were not seeing it with your own eyes, and its display mesmerizes. Our recent cruise which began in Montreal and ended up sailing into New York Harbour, delivered a rainbow of spectacular Autumnal colour in many of the towns and cities along the way. We also experienced a wide variety of cultural diversity as we sailed through Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Novia Scotia, Maine, Boston and Newport.

Quebec city was a beautiful surprise - visually very pretty, and although I was aware of its bilingual French culture I didn't realise that French is really its first language with little English being heard from the locals on its streets. Quebec city was the backdrop of the global forces of the French English conflict in the maritime era. Its imposing Chateau Frontenac was the venue for the 1943 Quebec conference at which Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt discussed the strategy for WW2. 

In (freezing) Sydney, Novia Scotia, we were welcomed with a traditional smoking ceremony by the very friendly indigenous Mi'kmaq people, its first nation people. Dressed in their deer hide clothes they spent time explaining their heritage, culture and survival in what is a pristine but very harsh climate. We also learned about the migration of thousands upon thousands of Scottish Gaelic people between 1760 & 1860 to this part of the world and today's efforts to continue their language far from its original birthplace.

In Halifax we cycled 18kms across severely windswept causeways crossing tidal wetlands and heavily graveled paths cutting through forests, to arrive at its fishing harbour where we feasted on well deserved mussels.

And in gorgeous Boston we visited the beautiful Harvard campus and met the curators of an impressive display of Magna Carta manuscripts owned by the university, as this ancient tome celebrates its 800 year history as the first bastion of the rule of law.

With still vivid memories of Australia's 1983 triumph for the America's Cup in Newport Rhode Island, we took a sailing trip in its harbour which allowed us to view some of the race's  original 12 metre sailing yachts, such as "Weatherly" & "Intrepid", still working today. We also viewed the magnificent summer mansions, known locally as "cottages", built along this stretch of coastline. Newport is a very attractive sea port with sprawling architectural displays of wealth and power - it definitely warrants a return during summer months for more exploring.

In the end, sailing into New York harbour just before dawn gave us an appreciation of the awe that the immigrants of past must have felt as they viewed the lady of liberty holding centre stage. USA's symbol of hope peace and freedom.

Fall Colours on Harvard campus

Sammlung Boros - Berlin's privately owned Contemporary art gallery

A visit to the private art collection of Christian & Karen Boros, is as much a insight into the future as it is into the past, for this extensive contemporary art collection is set in an historic WW2 air raid bunker in what was East Berlin. 

Standing 6 floors high, the imposing building, was built in 1942 to protect German citizens during the bombing of the city and its exterior still bears extensive scars of the brutal period. Immediately after the war, the concrete bunker was used to house political prisoners in East Berlin, then became a storage house for tropical fruit from Cuba and earned the name 'The Banana Bunker'. After the wall fell in 1989, the building became a venue for techno music and fetish parties until it was finally closed due to safety concerns.

In 2003 the bunker was bought by art collectors Christian & Karen Boros, and unable to be torn down, it underwent an extensive 5 year renovation, deconstructing the small rabbit warren rooms. The end result is a space which stills maintains its original austere feeling, yet is more suitable for displaying the collection. Graffiti and wall signage from its previous incarnations remain, now an appropriate backdrop, seemingly artworks themselves. The owners crowning glory is the addition on the top of the building of what appears to be a very groovy glass walled penthouse apartment. All in all, a very clever re-purposing of the space by a very creative couple.

Gallery Visits are only conducted by guided tours and one must pre-book via the website - current wait is about 5 weeks Sammlung Boros. The art exhibited varies from photography to performance based installations, canvases and sculpture, and include such renowned names names as Ai Wei Wei, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Danh Vo. Often collected early in the artist's careers prior to fame, it shows a clever & well trained eye by the owners. 

Contemporary art can be challenging for some because it does raise the question of what actually constitutes art - some may query whether a stick leaning against a wall or a popcorn machine continuously producing popped corn over a period of years, have artistic merit, but I feel eliciting a reaction is often a portion of its intention - a reaction, positive or negative means engagement and involvement by the viewer. Furthermore, contemporary art exhibited in this harsh space appears entirely appropriate - the rigid structure of the Nazi built bunker completely contrasts the freedom and self expression of the art within, serving to heighten the appreciation of both.    

Australia's new Pavilion at the Venice Biennale & Fiona Hall's Art

Sitting in the midst of Venice’s lush green Giardini grounds, Australia’s new 'black box' pavilion is the perfect container for Australia’s biennially chosen artists to shine. The small canal it sits alongside is the only indication that one is in this water bound city, because summer’s maddening crowds are replaced with an open, cool, green space that absolutely surprises & delights.

When the opportunity to take the final permanent space in the Giardini was offered to Australia, it was one too good to refuse, and with the generosity of mainly private donations, Denton Corker Marshall won the competition to design the building.

The black granite clad cube, a mysterious & contemporary container, opens like a gift box presented on your birthday, eliciting the same delight and excitement. To my mind, good Architecture must always stir the emotions, and be a visual representation of people, place & purpose, so Australians can be very proud of what this well executed building says about us – quiet sophistication abounds. Ultimately though this pavilion is about what lies within, so it is right that this pavilion possess an ability to sit quietly and regally in its own skin, presenting the gift inside.

And indeed the gift this box delivers is definitely one worth devouring. Fiona Hall’s enormous body of work, seemingly, randomly combines disparate elements that become incredibly intricate and thought provoking sculptures. Entitled “Wrong Way Time’ it is presented as a series of vignettes that relate, yet also sit independently, challenging the notions of three interconnecting concerns: global politics, world finances and the environment. Ordinary materials, found objects and images are given new life and in the process elicit powerful meanings as she questions the impact on culture & tradition in our pursuit of money & power.

In this dark, still space each element takes on heightened significance, the silence punctuated only by the occasional call of a lonely bush crow, contrasted with the man-made call of the cuckoo clock – environment versus occupation. 

Of all the intricate vignettes, 2 really stood out for me – the beautiful woven forms of endangered Australian desert animals made in collaboration with women from the Tjanpi Desert Weavers are, at a glance, beautiful sculptures, but on closer inspection reveal a more sinister meaning. Woven with a mix of desert grasses and torn shreds of British & American military camouflage gear, supplied by Hall, they speak volumes of the impact of European occupation on this region of our country. The region also endured the ‘hidden’ post WW2 British nuclear testing, known as the Maralinga tests – the impact never really acknowledged by the British but clearly still felt by the Aboriginal communities to this day.

My other particular favourite, situated in the heart of the installation, were the suspended sculptures depicting traditional people in stripped out military clothing. Hanging in an almost ‘totem pole at the gallows’ format, these figures are traditional and very raw. The heads are intricately woven from military clothing modeled over life like forms, with bones and teeth set into them, depicting a frightening, yet also defiant and very proud demeanor. The military ‘clothes’ they wear, some with decorative military epilates still intact, have been stripped of all except the seams, reinforcing the theme of the effects occupation on traditional people, land and environment. 

One can also not pass the beautifully made bird nests – made with shredded American dollar notes, nor the series of painted cuckoo clocks detailed with sinister images and profound words. ‘Wrong way time’ seems indeed a very apt title for the intersection of her concerns and the materials chosen to depict them.

My only disappointment was, that my targeted visit did not allow me to visit over several days, because I have no doubt that like all good art works, multiple visits would reveal even greater depth.

  

 

The Architectural brilliance of Frank Gehry shines in Paris

I have long been a fan of the architectural brilliance of Frank Gehry, the shapes and forms of his buildings have a playfulness that makes my heart sing, so my recent visit to the new Louis Vuitton Foundation building in Le Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne Paris, was always going to be a homage. Gehry is the ultimate modern day architectural conjurer and this incredible building is proof beyond doubt. Visually it is absolutely stunning.

First opened by Napoléon III and Empress Eugénie in 1860, Jardin d'acclimatation, has delighted generations of children with attractions that include a zoo, water garden and puppet theatre so it is quite fitting that this exuberant building has been built in this exterior space that has entertained for well over a century.

Architecturally there is a similarity to other Gehry buildings, though I feel this is more in the overall mood of the building and manner in which one responds to it rather than the materials used or the architectural form. This time the hero material used is glass (as opposed to titanium in the Guggenheim Bilbao, or Brick in the new UTS building in Sydney) which creates a ‘lightness’ in the 12 sails as they soar towards the sky, yet simultaneously it feels grounded and solid. One can almost feel the sails billowing as if it is about to set sail. 

These sails of curved glass, steel and timber act as an exoskeleton, protecting the 11 white tile-clad galleries beneath and subsequently create a wonderful array of architectural juxtapositions of curves & angles. As an Australian one cannot help but be reminded of our own iconic architectural masterpiece, the Sydney Opera House - in all the reading I have done around this building I have not seen anyone (including Frank Gehry himself) refer to similarities but to me it seems obvious - could it be atavistic?

The interior spaces are large yet intimate, light filled and calm. They house the Louis Vuitton Foundation’s contemporary art collection as well as the delicious ‘Le Frank’ restaurant at which we were lucky enough to secure a table. The food was exceptionally good, made even better by being able to absorb the spectacular surroundings with a glass of wine.

While I admit limited time meant we didn’t view the art collection as my main focus was the architecture, this is not an issue as I will definitely return soon.

Overall the building has a modernity that is entirely appropriate for the contemporary collection it houses plus the precision and attention to detail for which its namesake is renown.  

ANTARCTICA - MAJESTY & OVERWHELMING BEAUTY

The silence is deafening, the scale overwhelming and the kaleidoscope of “whites,” hypnotic. Antarctica exceeded all my expectations …. and then some more. 

Our 10 day G Adventure conference trip was enlightening, educational & an enormous amount of fun. Much to our delight, the Antarctic sea was bursting with marine life. Penguins galore, seals of all varieties and whales enjoying the last of the summer before they began their migration north were just a few of the wildlife we were able to view in their natural habitat.

There is nothing quite like rounding a bend to see thousands of penguins scattered across the snow & ice, some as still as statues as they gather all their effort for the catastrophic malt of their summer coats in preparation for the winter months ahead. Others playing games or tobogganing on their stomachs down a snowy slope looked like a group of children getting into mischief. The penguin chics, were so inquisitive that they would often venture right up to us as they waited for their parents to return with more krill parcels to satisfy their endless demand for food.

Watching the majesty of the whales thrusting their huge aviation like tail fins into the air (often at close range) as they take their deep dives was exhilarating. They would disappear leaving only their wet breath of cold air like a geyser rising from the sea. 

We became quite expert at spotting the difference between a leopard seal (spotted fur), a crab eating seal (pale grey in colour) and a fur seal (visible ears). Often luxuriating on a slab of ice floating in the middle of the sea, the seals looked like they were recovering from a heavy night – checking us out as much as we were them, they were natural performers for our cameras.

We have a huge appreciation of the fortitude of the Polar explorers - Scott, Amundsen, Creen & Shackleton - heroic adventurers in the true sense of the word. The immense bravery they displayed to venture into unknown territory with such extreme weather conditions – without the thermal jackets, neoprene boots and technical gear we wore which still left us feeling cold at times. 100years ago these great explorers saw largely the same things I saw last week - a statement that can't really be made about anywhere else on the planet.

I went to Antarctica wanting to see abundant sea life, but I left being in awe of the mammoth ice, snow, icebergs & glacial structures – there is a majesty & serenity that speaks volumes to the soul. They were immense, dwarfing our zodiacs with their volume. It is truly an incredible region of our planet and my overwhelming feeling during our expedition was one of immense gratitude that I was able to witness it myself.