Tuonelan joki australialaisittain
Glass boats with a message
Adelaiden festivaalikeskuksen puistossa lipuivat eilen ilta-auringossa mustat joutsenet sekä paikallisen taiteilijan Shaun Kirbyn lasiset purret. Hauraanoloisten veneiden matkanteko liittyy siirtolaisuuteen, ja veneiden käsin kirjoitettu teksti on peräisin Adelaiden kaupungin siirtolaisarkistoista.
Olin huomaavinani, että Adelaiden kaupungissa on paljon ajatuksia herättäviä julkisia taideteoksia. Taide- ja kirjallisuusfestivaaleistaan tunnetussa kaupungissa näin pitää tietysti ollakin. Ei nyt viitsitä muistella niitä kaupunkeja, meillä ja muualla, joissa kulttuuri ja taide keskitetään festivaaliviikkoon ja sen hetken ulkopuolella kulttuuritoimi saa verissä päin taistella pienistä määrärahoistaan.
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On our way to the concert yesterday, we came across Shaun Kirby's beautiful sculptures, little glass boats floating on the river Torrens. The boats tell stories about immigration and I think they might be illuminated in the evenings. They were perfectly touching and thought-provoking in the evening sun as well, and the presence of black swans completed the picture. The handwriting on the boats has been taken from migrant records, this particular boat was carrying memories of a stormy sea voyage a long, long time ago.
It was nice to see so many public artworks around. This should go without saying, in a city with a major arts and writers' festival. Let's not get grumpy by thinking of all those towns and cities that can afford art or music for one week in a year, if then. And that will be it, thank you very much. Outside the festival fever, the cultural officer (if there is one) must have one of the most frustrating jobs in the whole wide world.
Comments - Kommentit
DATE: 8:52 PM
I liked the floating glass boats - like little hats which kids make out of paper. If they were to have a set of boats documenting the migrant experience, several of them should be sinking!Denis
Posted by: Denis Wilson | February 23, 2006 06:17 PM
DATE: 6:30 PM
I know... Or they should have Norwegian captains and lots of cargo containers on their decks.
Posted by: ah | February 23, 2006 06:17 PM
DATE: 12:33 AM
Thank you, Anni. That one was the Tampa. Worse case was code named "SIEV X" - the ultimate in bureaucratic cynicism. "Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel # X." The ultimate leaky boat -"leaks like a sieve". No wonder I had to leave the bureaucracy. Denis
Posted by: Denis Wilson | February 23, 2006 06:17 PM