Back in Auckland

Back in the spell of magical Auckland

first day on the water but not in this liner

but even the humble ferry to Devonport

gives Prabhash his first salt water adventure

and seeing things from a new point of view 

Briefly in Brisbane

After the World Cup

The children can get back to their growing up

Some faster than others

I can get back to a little reflection

admiring the geometry

remembering the past

glimpsing the future

making a fuss

looking for conspiracies

and finding the gallery openings

Spring in Auckland

After the winter cross, bravely borne, comes the resurrection of spring

An Antipodean Easter morning

A shy disciple of the glorious rebirth

A poem for Mount Wellington

MAUNGAREIPE  - WATCHFUL ONE

    SENTINEL

    FORTRESS

   WARRIORS

              HEART

    EMBRACE

              WITHIN

               SAFETY

             FREEDOM

   RETURN


Maungareipe - Watchful One
sentinel
fortress
warriors
heart
embrace
within
safety
freedom 
return

Pecha Kucha at the Auckland Art Gallery

Among the artists and designers who to took the opportunity to present their 20 slides and speak to them for no more than 20 seconds an image, was Paolo Cuccaagna, visiting Italian motorcycle designer from Honda.

Paolo dwells on his admiration for designer Mistuyoshi Kohama, master of the now disappearing cult of futurist motorcycle design. Paolo suggested that today's bikes are  not in search of futurist fantasy but are turning back to the throbbing visibly mechanical machines of the 1950s.

Gallery curator Ron Brownson shares his secret obsession - secret no longer, Ron! - as a collector of Rugby memorabilia - particularly Rugby photographs from three centuries. Group portraits spoke volumes of evolution from once gentlemanly sport to galdiatorial combat. One antique solo portrait of a reclining Maori player hinted at the influences of Titian and Manet.

Art Expedition - 20 October

On Thursday evening from 5pm to 7pm David led a score of art buffs and one old buffer            (behind the camera) on a pilgrimage from one Auckland city gallery to another. Curiously the helmeted building in the background is Prabhash's college.

Jan Sanders welcomed us to her gallery on the first floor of a noble 1870s building and in keeping with the building a show by a revered Auckland artist - 91 year old Jan Nigro. Her subject matter the equally aged Lady Chatterley's Lover was daringly presented with fresh and youthful vigour.

Anna Miles Gallery stunningly lit gallery in a curiously narrow building displayed architectural photos by Allan McDonald " Six Petrol Stations". Spotlit Anna in the far corner spoke simply and with passion.

Our next stop was the black and white show "Driven to Abstraction" at Gow Langsford Gallery in Lorne Street. The stark brightly lit space was a perfect canvas for the stark monochrome works. The Simon Ingrams on the back wall were rendered by an art machine he devised for the occasion.

The smallest and subtlest of the show at the Langsford Gallery was this Colin McCahon drastically entitled "Jump".

Making our way from one gallery to the next we paused in Khartoum Place with its feminist tile murals, to listen to the melodies of a solitary harpist.

The entrance to our next gallery Orexart is suspended precariously over Khartoum Place.

Rex Armstrong positively glowed among the stencil art rugby stars at Orexart Gallery. The show "Personal Heroes" is by New Zealand born artist Regan Tamanui, best known in his adopted city of Melbourne by his aka Ha Ha.

Refining his stencil and spray technique developed for guerrilla street art, Regan treats this personal hero with subtle affection.

The final stop before entering the Auckland art Gallery for a festive late night programme that was to include Pecha Kucha, was the clean cut beautiful FHE Gallery. Its slightly rarefied atmosphere displayed art pieces by a revered stable of artists.  Gallery director Kathlene Fogarty spoke about each piece and the artists with real devotion and her presence led me to coin a new term for her urbane poise - artistocratic. 

The tour ended at the doors of the impressive extension to the Auckland Art Gallery and alerted by Frank McBride to the existence of an art installation that can best be described as a deification machine, I hurried into the mysterious room to enjoy a moment of reflection and a glimpse of the perpetually eternal.

An Exhibition on Auckland's Waterfront

As part of the Rugby World Cup celebrations, an assortment of displays and pavilions have mushroomed on the waterfront at the bottom of Queen Street. Some are only kept aloft with hot air, but the largest structure referred to as the Cloud is expected to survive for several years, providing a useful central city display space.

Mushrooming pavilions

The Cloud

How are you finding Auckland, Prabhash?

The Green City's transport

Who wood have thought what you wood do with wood?

So that's what all the fuss is about?

Tongan Night in K Road

Last night was a special Tongan night in K Road. In the stunningly Art Deco St. Kevin's Arcade and on the corner of our East Street, Tongans music made music in the public spaces. Football fans making their way to the Wales v France match were serenaded by song and brass band. Thank you Tonga for sharing with the world.

Serenading the football crowd - St Kevin's Arcade

Tongan Brass Band - corner K Road and East Street

A Tongan Wales Supporter

The Brass Band beats a Tattoo