Lewis Dick at work

Mauritian carver Lewis Dick at the Incinerator Complex working on a large wooden sculpture of sailor. He was given some wood from a tree that once grew on the Avenue of Honour, and Lewis has decided to make a work as a gift to the city of Moonee Valley. Incidentally, Lewis' birthday is the day of the opening, 28 February, almost. He was actually born on 29 February, the seventeenth child whose mother died in childbirth. His life has been very much about trying to recover from the shadow cast over his destiny by this incident. He says it was the 'slap' that the doctor gave him after he was born, to help him breathe, that set him forward in life. Every day, for Lewis, begins with this slap. To listen to Lewis talk about how he started carving, click here - four minute MP3 file)

A team effort

As soon as the plans had been made for the Ballarat residency projects, Zakir began darning the many small holes in the Trades Hall Eureka flag, whilst we tried to source matching fabric to replace the badly shredded areas. This proved to be quite a chase, and a great team effort. Through the Trades Hall we discovered the name of the manufacturer, who kindly donated some fabric. This turned out to be a different blue to our flag, and because the fabric is synthetic is was not possible for the rafoogars to dye it.

Searching the local fabric shops, I found several variations of cloth of the right colour but wrong fabric content. By day four, it seemed that the blue cotton homespun would be the closest match. Then Dulcie Corbett, who has taken me into her home for the duration of the residency, put her local knowledge and her detective skills to the test. She took a small sample of the flag, and the new blue fabric sent by the flag manufacturer, and returned triumphantly three days later with the new fabric dyed to match the flag, having tracked down a commercial dyer who kindly offered his services at no charge.

There was much excitement when Dulcie arrived at the gallery with the newly dyed fabric, now a perfect match for the damaged flag. Zakir and Intekhab immediately put their heads together, consulting on the technical details of how to proceed with the repair. It was eventually decided to make a clean join right across the flag, entirely removing the shredded section. Only two hours later, the new section had been neatly darned to the old. Next came the task of adding the cross bar and star to both front and back of the flag.

Thenu in Caulfield

To the sound of hip hop from the students of Caulfield Park Community Centre, Chandraguptha Thenuwara and David Ray are working on pieces for the Common Goods exhibition. Thenu is interested in taking David's tiles and camouflage into the third dimension. One very practical benefit from Thenu's residency is to discover a pigment for creating a bright yellow on ceramic glaze. The yellows in his clay barrels fired in Colombo have tended to burn out. So yellow becomes an Australian gift to Sri Lanka. Thenu was also very pleased to find a local Sri Lankan restaurant, Gedera, meaning welcome.

Slide talk coming up

Rafoogars at the Ballarat Fine Art GalleryA Craft Victoria residency program
 
Capturing the Past - A Slide Talk by Wendy Lugg & Priya Ravish Mehra.
Wed 22 Feb at 12.30pm
 
For the past 10 days the Rafoogars, Zakir Hussain, Intekhab Ahmed and Western Australian artist Wendy Lugg have been working in Ballarat Fine Art Gallery on the Common Goods project organised by Craft Victoria as part of the cultural program for the Commonwealth Games
Wendy and Priya have prepared a slide show titled Capturing the Past where they will talk about aspects of the Common Goods project. Wendy will talk about traditions of making do and mending in Australia and Asia. Priya will discuss the fascinating art of the Rafoogars who repair exquisite Kasmiri shawls made for special occasions.
Entry to the talk is free.

Ahmed instilling Maldivian design

The South Kids at ArtPlay were particularly keen to see the silicon block that Maldivian stone carver Ahmed Nimad was working with. Ahmed stressed greatly the adaptability of Maldivian design, beyond stone carving to graphic design and fashion. He is hoping that his visit will leave the South Kids with a lasting legacy. Let's see if in the next generation of Victorian designers and makers reveal strange curvilinear patterns in their work. To the right are some of the materials they have been gathering for Lorraine Connelley-Northey. Ahmed and Lorraine are getting together next week to make their piece for the Common Goods exhibition to open on 28 February. 

Barrelism in Melbourne

Chandraguptha Thenuwara has been very busy. This afternoon was the opening of an exhibition at the Maroondah Art Gallery, organised by Damien Smith, which featured some barrels that Chandraguptha had painted specially for the exhibition, along with some very find drawings, paintings and prints. In a very kind gesture, Chandraguptha has donated the barrels to the council. Chandraguptha spoke of the strangeness of yellow as a camouflage colour in Sri Lankan barrels - a colour that makes them stand out rather than blend in. He mentioned an interest in barrelism that might be found in other countries. In Cairo recently, he found was he thought was a 'doorism', reflecting the security screening frames at the entrance of all public buildings. When prompted about what Melbourne's version of 'barrelism' might be, he spoke about a more internal sense of alertness to terrorism, though said this didn't affect the friendliness that he found on Melbourne streets. However, in conversation he did express a surprise at the level of swearing amongst youth in a centre where he is working -- 'four letter words'. Strange that this kind of verbal violence is perfectly reasonable to Melbournians, though it shocks a person by comparison with the military violence in Sri Lanka. So what is the Melbourne equivalent of barrelism? Far more prevalent in Melbourne are bollards that subtly define the excluded areas of public space. Could there be bollardism in Melbourne? Thanks Chandraguptha for raising this question. 

Expert exchange

The rafoogars are stitching away, oblivious to distractions. The steady rhythm of their work is not even slowed by the regular chime of Intekhab's mobile phone, receiving message updates of the cricket scores. They do pause, however, to allow visitors a close look at what they've been doing.

One very welcome visitor was Val D'Angri, who conserved and prepared the original Eureka Flag for display at the gallery 30 years ago. Val, who is very knowledgeable about the flag and its place in history, is also an expert needlewoman. It was exciting to be given a close, hands-on look at the reduced scale flag she made to demonstrate the exact construction of the original flag. Val, in turn, was greatly impressed by the skill of the rafoogars, and spent some time admiring both their current residency stitching and the old mended shawls they have brought with them.

A week into Ballarat residency

A week into the Ballarat residency, the rafoogars are making swift progress, and I (Wendy) am finally taking off my admistrative hat to focus on sewing. I must work fast to catch up.

We have two separate projects underway, each linking Indian tradition with a local Australian icon. It was in Ballarat that the Eureka Flag was first flown in 1854. Made famous by its role in the battle at the Eureka Stockade, it has since been flown in support of many and varied causes. The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery is home to the original flag, which has provided inspiration for both projects.


Zakir is using his darning skills to restore a storm-damaged Eureka flag removed from above the local Trades Hall. Given that it is so badly shredded that nearly half of it is missing, returning it to its original state will be a remarkable feat, and quite fascinating to watch.

Meanwhile, Intekhab and I are collaborating on a double sided piece using a traditional Indian shawl format. We will each create a face layer, and these will be joined back-to-back to complete the shawl. Intekhab is drawing his imagery from the Eureka Flag.

Friend

At the end of a long journey by sea, visitors to the island of Kulhudhufushi are greeting by the bright red sign 'Miduri', meaning friend. Yet another sign of the oagartherikan that is a common good special to the Maldives.