Hlengiwe with the 'villages'

Here's South African telephone wire weaver Hlengiwe Dube with the plants she calls the 'villages' in the park near Geelong Art Gallery.

The residency at Ballarat is up and running. The visitors have settled in to their space at the gallery, where a wonderful large carpet from the gallery collection has been provided as a place for them to work. The rafoogers, Zakir Hussein and Intekhab Ahmed, are accompanied by Priya Ravish Mehra, who has proven to be a real asset to the development of the residency. She has eased the culture shock for the rafoogars, and ably provided translation services during the planning discussions between the rafoogars and Australian artist Wendy Lugg, who is working with them. Four days into the project, decisions have been made, and two parallel projects are underway.

Lace-making in Malta-Morwell

Some reflection on how the lives of Maltese has tangible evidence, compared to the heritage of current generations.
In Morwell, Mary Farrugia was joined by local Maltese lace-makers Mary Zahra and Helen Muscat at Latrobe Regional Gallery. They worked surrounded by an extraordinary display of lace, much of it Mary's, but also some from the local community. Quite stark was the contrast between the baby's lace smock from Malta, with more exquisite detail throughout, with the local smock where lace was restricted to the hem. 'People just don't have the time anymore'. There was much talk about bobbins. Each of their sets of bobbins had quite distinct beads to weigh them down. According to Mary, lace-makers often attach black beads to their bobbins if there has been a death in the family. Burnt into the bobbins are words, such as maxims or family names. The local Maltese community is planning for Malta Day on 15 March, when bus loads are coming down from Melbourne for ceremonies, eating, sport and dancing. They seem very excited to be involved in producing work for the cultural festival and wish there was more of that. They are producing individual pieces of lace to be attached to a men's suit that Mark McDean has designed in conversation with Mary Faruggia. All goes well.
 

Early days

Just some quick notes of progress thus far…

Monday's media launch was a great success. The Sports Minister Justin Madden engaged in deep conversation with visiting artists. Photos have appeared in The Age and Herald Sun. The artists met beforehand and were introduced to each other. The Mauritian artist Lewis Dick demonstrated the sega and welcomes were exchanged in many different languages.

• The South African artist Hlengiwe Dube had one of her bowls reproduced in bright colour in the Herald Sun. There was an official reception for her at Geelong Art Gallery (see image below)


• Flax has been collected for Te Atiwae Ririnui


• Due to family circumstances beyond her control, Niki Hastings-McFall has delayed her trip. She is expected mid-February.


• Audrey Boyle is continuing to collect strange flora for her installation-in-progress at Craft Victoria.


• Lewis Dick has been exploring Melbourne for wood with lots of character.


• The Maldivian carver Ahmed Nimad has been exploring Melbourne's cemeteries to study the stone carving


• Chandraguptha Thenuwara is having an exhibition 'Barrelism: Camouflage' at Maroondah Art Gallery opening on Wednesday 15 February until 18 March

South Africa in Geelong

Hlengiwe Dube has met some very nice friends in Geelong, including a lovely South African resident who actually comes from the same village as Hlengiwe, the Kenyan-born Nandi Young who is heavily involved in multicultural activities, and Louisa La Fonara, who is helping to organise the big PACO festival on 25 February. Hlengiwe was most amazed at the plants in garden near the gallery. She described one plant as 'just like the huts in her village'. She was so pleased that god has designed nature to be so different in different countries. Meanwhile, she has found some materials that Lucy Irvine has been using, and is now working on a hybrid telephone wire and cable tie bowl. 

Practicing in Bendigo

Hi Bloggers, Our visitor Nikki Hastings-McFall has been held up in New Zealand and won't be arriving until next week. With this window of opportunity, as I have never blogged before I thought I should give it a go, have a practice before we start. So, here is a photo from my recent holiday in New Zealand.

Fine detail

The media launch gave an opportunity for the Victorian Minister of Sport and Commonwealth Games Justin Madden to inspect the fine detail of the work by rafoogars Zakir Hussein and Intekhab Ahmed (who thankfully arrived from India that morning at 3am).
 

Cable ties and telephone wire

Local artist Lucy Irvine meets up with visiting South African telephone wire weaver Hlengiwe Dube. They are comparing works at the Common Goods media launch, officiated by Sports Minister Justin Madden. Lucy works with what she can find in hardware stores, particularly cable ties. Hlengiwe's telephone wire is now especially made for craftspeople in South Africa -- it has proven such a popular medium. What will come of her work in Geelong?
 

Mauritius and Maldives

Mauritius and Maldives are two island nations of the Indian Ocean, which despite sharing the same water have very little to do with each other. Two carvers Lewis Dick (Mauritius) and Ahmed Nimad (Maldives) are finding much in common. Their first day was spent showing them around some of the carving in Melbourne, including the churches and Melbourne General Cemetary. The mild warm sunny weather reminded both of 'just like home'. Final arrival is tonight at 3am, with the second darner Intekhab Ahmed arriving to complete the team that will restore a replica of the Eureka flag.