Circling the roundabouts…the nation’s capital in summer

Located on Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri County and known for its innumerable roundabouts, Canberra - Australia’s bush capital - is not the first place you’d think of spending time in summer, mostly because the country’s plentiful and spectacular beaches hold sway over other landscapes.  But as we – the group of artists, technicians and producers making and installing Genevieve Lacey’s Breathing Space (a new permanent sound installation for the National Museum of Australia) spent a lot of time there in December, January and February, it became a fun and informative place to hang out. 

For the outdoor types there is lots of open space, various ‘beaches’ along the foreshores of Lake Ginninderra and the iconic Lake Burley Griffin, abundant walking tracks, bike and running lanes, as well as the National Arboretum and the National Botanical Gardens.  The Arboretum boasts a bonsai garden that blew the mind with its unique miniature natives, and its glorious views.  The Botanical Gardens is arguably the best in Australia (not the most breath-taking location that is Sydney right on the harbour by the Opera House) but remarkable for its comprehensive collection of Australian indigenous plants and trees, and for its vastness…meaning that many return visits are mandatory for garden lovers like us (in 2015 Genevieve Lacey made Pleasure Garden, a love letter to music and gardens that has been experienced by over 30,000 people in gardens in Australia, the UK and Europe).

The Garden of Australian Dreams (GoAD) at the National Museum of Australia is where we spent most of our days - an outdoor plaza inside the museum – that is frequented by those with small children on the way to the Discovery Centre, or those wanting to know more about Australia’s Indigenous Peoples through the First Nations’ Gallery, or those wanting to experience the spectacular Great Southern Land exhibition that was completed last September.  It is anticipated that Genevieve’s new sound installation Breathing Space, an epic work envisioned as a ‘rewilding in sound’, will bring many more visitors to the GoAD and is designed to encourage them to, among other things, stay longer on the site, test their knowledge of natural sounds versus instrumental imitators, listen to the spoken voices of a diverse array of women and non-binary people who call Australia home, and to become familiar with the words of Alexis Wright, one of Australia’s leading Indigenous authors and activists. 

Another indoor-outdoor experience in Canberra is Within without, a major Skyspace by American light artist James Turrell at the National Gallery of Australia…recalling ancient temples, it is an alluring, tactile, and restful place to while away some time, seated or reclining, to watch the clouds and the birds go by. 

And inside the NGA – a serene and spacious building designed by pioneering architect Col Madigan, of Edwards Madigan Torzillo and Briggs – there is a treasure trove of visual and audio-visual art that demands multiple visits.  Where to start?  The First Nations collection representing the work of those who have occupied the country for tens of thousands of years with The Aboriginal Memorial (1987-88) by Ramingining artists, Djon Mundine, Bandjalung people, leading the field as one of the most significant works in the National Gallery’s collection? Or Blue Poles: Number 11 (1952) by the American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock, which was an astounding and controversial purchase for the nation by Gough Whitlam’s Labor Government in the 1970s? Or Sidney Nolan’s iconic Kelly Series donated by his patron Sunday Reed? Or the lovely three-channel video installation ASSEMBLY (2019) by Angelica Mesiti which represented Australia at the 58th Venice Biennale and features a few musicians in Arts & Parts’ orbit (such fun to see them on screen)? Or the confronting exhibition by Kara Walker curated by the artist, that explores the narratives of race, gender, and sexuality and is part of the NGA’s celebratory Know My Name initiative? The pilgrimage this time included all these works, as well as the retrospective of Cressida Campbell, who’s charming interiors, depictions of late twentieth, early twenty-first century Australian life and love of Australian native plants (especially the waratahs and flannel flowers) was as infectious as it was beautiful. 

Martel Ollerenshaw, February 2023