When the staff member asked me tonight my thoughts on Lu Pingyuan’s monumental installation, “Shadow of the Shadow,” I couldn’t help but reply, “This is CLASSIC White Rabbit.”
By this, I meant it was a work that challenged, transported, and awed. Its sheer scale—a staggering 488 individual pieces—is rarely seen in Australian art. She laughed in recognition.
Shadow of the Shadow Lu Pingyuan 陆平原Shadow of the Shadow Lu Pingyuan 陆平原
I spent a fair amount of time tonight wandering around this magnificent work at White Rabbit, a contempoary Chinese art gallery in Sydney’s Chippendale.
Though it’s one of my favorite galleries (maybe MY ABSOLLUTE FAVOURITE), personal illness in the last year and the COVID-19 pandemic has kept me away for far too long. Their recent “art after hours” event was the perfect opportunity to return.
Beyond “Shadow of the Shadow,” I was particularly drawn to these others.
Blue CJ750 Shi Jindian 师进滇Blooming Season: Snow in June He Yunchang 何云昌
White Rabbit Gallery has a unique ability to transport viewers into a fascinating world of contemporary art. Having visited China twice and explored a number of contemporary galleries there, I’ve witnessed the immense scale and adventurous spirit of their art scene. The political climate seems to encourage artists to push boundaries and experiment with extreme artistic expressions.
If you find yourself in Sydney, I highly recommend visiting White Rabbit Gallery. For me, it was a delightful evening outing, a much-needed escape from recent challenges. Afterward, I even treated myself to a meal at Spice Alley, a perfect end to a wonderful night.
Click on the links below to see other previous exhibitions at White Rabbit.
“I’m surprised I’ve got anyone on the tour today”, commented Michael, our driver and guide for today’s Barossa Tour. It’s Melbourne Cup Day and it was a surprisingly good day for a bus tour to the Barossa, since the bus was only half full.
As we headed towards the Barossa for lunch and wine tastings we called in at a number of locations along the way including the giant rocking chair, the Angas Park Fruit Factory, Herbig’s Tree (here an early German immigrant family lived for six years) and on the way back at locations like the “Whispering Wall” (another irrigation facility!) where you can, literally stand on one side of the dam wall and speak to people on the other as the sound curves around.
Amongst wineries, for taste the highlight was Grant Burge, and for buildings/location etc it was Chateau Yaldara, owned by McGuigan. We called in to another couple, but they weren’t nearly as memorable.
Overall it was a good tour, with our guide showing a lot of knowledge about the history of the state, and far more pleasant than driving ourselves.
Whispering Wall at Barossa Reservoir
All roads lead to Stockholm, even from the Barossa Valley
Giant Rocking Horse
Angas Park Dried Fruit Line
Tasting room at Yaldara Estate in Barossa
Herbig Family Tree
On arriving back in Adelaide, I caught up tonight with my friend Jacqui who I used to know in the Riverland when we both lived there twenty years ago. Thanks to Facebook, we’ve been reunited, as we lost touch as we both moved places several times in that period. A wonderful evening.
I was moved by the comments of the Korean Ambassador, as he spoke passionately about the profound effect of the Korean War. He talked about how people from all around the world came to a country they hardly knew existed, and for their efforts, the people of Korea remain grateful.
I was the opening of an exhibition, inspired by the book “Passage to Puusan’ by Louise Evans, which told the story of “A struggling Brisbane mother (who) travels to Korea to visit the grave of her son who was killed in the Korean War”. As a result, a family friendship between Korea and Australia has now developed over three generations. It sounds like a wonderful story, and I really must read the book.
Co-incidentally, I first met Louise several years ago at the ABC. But it was through another friend, Sooyong Kim, the exhibition’s curator, that I was invited to last night’s opening.
It’s a moving story, and a moving exhibition, and well worth a look, at the Korean Cultural Centre at 255 Elizabeth Street, Sydney for the next month.
What are the chances of an aircraft having not one, but two flat tyres? Not ours. The one hemming us in at Sydney Airport this morning.
When our captain (who had a very sexy voice, by the way) first told us about a flat tyre on the Pacific Blue flight (which had hemmed us in), he sounded reasonably philosophical about it all. But when he informed us of a further delay because the flight had TWO flat tyres, you could hear the sense of frustration in his voice. The problem, he told us, was that we couldn’t move until the Pacific Blue flight had their tyres repaired.
And so we sat and waited. And I read the paper, tweeted about the inconvenience, and sent some emails.
The delay also gave me some time to reflect on some of the interesting things I noticed at the airport. First, the automated flight information announcements with the American accent. Second, that although the urinals now are “eco friendly” by using recycled water, the taps in the hand-basin are those press button ones which deliver a torrent of water that you can’t turn off. One seems to defeat the purpose of the other eh?
And then came the good news: the sexy-voiced captain told us they were able to maneouvre the other aircraft in such a manner that we could “squeeze” through and take our place in the queue for take-off. There was a massive, collective sigh of relief when word came that we would soon be on our way.
Being possibly the world’s best plane sleeper, I then managed to sneak a brief “power nap” in the minutes before take off. Deep in sleep, I snored loudly and woke myself up, as we took to the air only 60 minutes after originally planned. A slight delay only adds to the drama of it all, though, doesn’t it?
And I love the sense of “occasion” associated with overseas travel. You’re in the queue, you have all your documentation ready (well, I do, though some people in the queue in front of me struggled to locate theirs). You’ve filled in the departure card. You’ve gone through Customs and Security, and then you just have to sit and wait.
It ain’t gonna change soon, although recently Richard Branson did mention he thought two or three hour flights between Sydney and London were in the realm of possibility within our lifetimes.
So what did I think of Air China? The first thing you notice in economy (at least) is the fairly “dated” inflight entertainment system. The screen had seen better days. In addition, there were just a few movies to watch. As none of them particularly interested me – a combination of Chinese soap operas and B-grade Hollywood, I mostly watched the flight map. Having read a review which mentioned how crap it all was, I had also loaded my computer with some of my own inflight entertainment.
The food and wine? The food was good, though not great. I had some chicken with vegetables for lunch. It was “enough”, though I would have liked a little more. I would have also liked a second glass of wine with lunch, but that wasn’t to be. Dinner was beef with rice, and finally a Chinese bun with a meat-like filling. After the wine came out for lunch, it was never to be seen again. In fact, I swear there were only two bottles of wine on board the entire aircraft, and they were both consumed at lunch-time.
The service was good, though not great. Everyone spoke some English, and all they smiled when I responded in Chinese with “please” and “thankyou”. Best of all? No babies. It wasn’t until we were somewhere over the Molucca Sea that I noticed there wasn’t a single child on the aircraft. Almost everyone travelling was from an Asian (assuming Chinese) background, with just a few Caucasian faces on board (including a group of “grey nomads” who are members of the Australian Tai Chi Fitness Group, according to their name tags).
I shared a seat with, at first, a middle-aged Asian woman from Sydney, and then later a younger woman, though I have no idea of her story. She just looked young and surly. My favourite neighbour on the flight from Shanghai to Beijing was a bloke with three mobile phones: an i-phone, a blackberry and a nokia. I assumed was a communications businessman of some form until I noticed he was just using the i-phone to play games.
Despite the late start to our flight in Sydney, the turn around in Shanghai was seamless: we were in and out of customs in a couple of minutes. I even had time to sit down and give Kate an update call.
A few hours later and I was safely ensconced in Kate’s place, as we sat and chatted until late in the morning.
Baking bread, but mostly fooling around with the new Google Camera app which, amongst other features, lets you focus on the main subject, blurring the background. For a camera phone app, it’s pretty good, eh?’
Sometimes you can forget how beautiful Sydney is at this time of the year. That is, until you take a walk along the coastline near Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama. The sandstone cliffs, the blue-green colour of the water, and the gentleness of the walk are both relaxing and hypnotic. The walk wasn’t overly busy, though, as most people were down on the beach.
My reason for a visit today wasn’t to relax: I went in search of the gravestone of one of my ancestors, Ann Hoare. I’ve known for a number of years she was buried at Waverley Cemetery under the name Ann Phibbs, but until today have never really had the motivation to go looking for the grave. Others, like Joye Walsh have been there before and have taken photographs of the gravesite which are available online. But with a revitalised interest in family history lately, I figured I’d pay a visit to find the grave myself to help fill in this part of the story in my own mind.
Elizabeth Hore and Ann Phibbs photo from 1865 thanks to Elizabeth Friederich
Granny Hoare, as I choose to call her from now on, was only fourteen years old when she married William Rixon, the eldest son of early convicts James Rixon and Amelia Goodwin in 1826. For many years after their marriage, William and Ann lived and farmed in various parts of what is now Western Sydney, around places like Marsfield, Campbelltown, Airds and Appin. From farming, they diversified into hotels, being the manager or licensee of a number of hotels in a number of locations between Wollongong and Appin.
Author Mick Roberts has documented their interests oin his website…
William Rixon licensed The Travellers Rest along the old coach road, between Mount Keira and Appin at the Wollongong court house during 1842. The location was known as ‘Stringy Bark’ or on some maps as ‘Lachlan Forest’. Licensing records state Rixon’s inn was located 18 miles (29 kilomtres) from Wollongong and 10 miles (17 kilomtres) from Appin. The license was described as a “wine and beer license” and not a “publican’s License” which indicates the inn was merely a refreshment stop for travellers and offered no accommodation.
Documents reveal the inn was under construction along the Appin to Mt Keira Road in May 1839. However, no records of the inn receiving a license can be found for another three years.
Lady Franklin reveals in her journal, while travelling from Appin to Wollongong and crossing the Cataract River, that she ascended the other side of Broughton’s Pass, and seen a hut and stable “where a man and horses for mail are”. She states the coach’s horses were changed there, while further along the track, the horses were stationed at a clearing where an inn was under construction. This building was no doubt The Travellers Rest and although Rixon moved onto another public house later that year, the inn probably continued in operation for several years as an unlicensed wayside stop for coaches and travellers until 1848 when Mt Keira was replaced by Rixon’s Pass at Woonona as the preferred mail route over the escarpment.
William Rixon became the licensee of the Union Revived Hotel at Appin later in 1842. The sandstone inn, still in existence as a private home, is located opposite Saint Bede’s Roman Catholic Church, on the main road through Appin village. Appin had two licensed inns at this time – the Union Revived Hotel and the Bourke Hotel – both had been in existence since 1826. Appin was the first large settlement reached after leaving Wollongong for Sydney.
The Appin Inn, later renamed the Union Revived and licensed for a while by one of my ancestors, William Rixon
William Rixon died on May 28, 1847 at Campbelltown and is buried at St Peter’s Church of England. After William’s death, Ann married twice more. On June 11, 1848, she married Owen Dunlaghan who died in January 1851. A year later, on January 24, 1852, Ann married William Henry Phibbs with whom she had one child, William Jordan Phibbs. Phibbs died on November 24, 1863. Ann lived on for many years after that, including at 362 Castlereagh Street, Sydney on the east side between Goulburn and Campbell Street. At the time of her death on August 8, 1895, she was living at “Adderborough” at 19 Denison St Woollahra, Sydney.
Finding her grave was no easy task. The office at Waverley Cemetery where they keep all the records is closed on a Sunday. So I had a copy of the photograph taken by Joye Walsh on my phone and walked around looking for it. Interestingly, it does quite stand out amongst the other graves, as it’s a reasonably simple crucifix, although it is quite large. Many of the other headstones are very very simple, or equally quite ornate. The best way to locate it, if you’re interested in finding it, is to go along the coastal walk, and when you see the main road which roughly equally divides the cemetery, take a walk up there about 100 metres. When you come to the next main “intersection”, take a left and you’ll see her grave there.
Ann enjoys wonderful views, and I reckon if she ever chose to sell, she could make a fortune :)
It was a lovely day and I’m so pleased I found the grave. It’s interesting for me and my sense of identity – as someone raised in the country, and having had ancestors in the country for several generations – to explore this more “urban” part of my family history.
