National Library of Australia

It's been a while, and I doubt that I'll go back to posting daily photos, but I am going to start posting more photos of Canberra as I have the opportunity.

On Tuesday I went to the 'Mapping Our World' exhibition at the National Library of Australia. It's a free exhibition, running until March, but you need to book timed entry tickets. It includes the fabulous Fra Mauro mappa mundi (world map), from 15th century Venice, which has never before left its home city. This map alone is worth the effort to get to the exhibition - just beautiful!

The area where the National Library is situated - the Parliamentary Triangle - is full of art, and much of it is outside the galleries and exhibition spaces. Right along from the library is this stunning piece: fire and water (artist: Judy Watson, sound designer: Michael Hewes, cultural advisor: Matilda House).

Captain Cook

The Captain Cook Memorial globe at Regatta Point. This is only half of the memorial - the other part wasn't in operation on Saturday because of the wind. It's a water jet in the lake, which shoots up nearly 150 metres into the air. When it's windy, the water can blow across onto Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, and can be a traffic hazard, so you'll have to wait for another day for a photo of that.

The globe shows the routes of Captain James Cook's three voyages - you can see the red, yellow and blue lines better on the image below.

A Prime Ministerial walk

 

I went for a wander around the lake while yesterday's birthday party was in process, and came across this fellow also out for a stroll. Apparently he's quite new, and there's no plaque announcing his identity, which had a few passers-by a little confused. But if you know anything about Australian politics, you'd have to recognise Sir Robert Gordon (Bob) Menzies, Prime Minister from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966 - the longest serving PM in our history.

Fergus

Walking out of the Jamison shopping centre yesterday, I spied a strange face behind construction fencing. I'm not sure if Fergus is the character's name, or the artist's, but I did manage to get a better shot over the top of the fence. And I wonder what the loose brick is hiding?

Orange

At the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery is this huge bright orange blob. It's a sculpture called Geo Face Distributor, made in 2009 by James Angus. Constructed of cast aluminium with enamel paint, it was commissioned to celebrate the launch of the new National Portrait Gallery.

The description of the sculpture says: "Australian artist James Angus has long been interested in how the visual forms of physics, biology and mathematics inform our perceptions of time, space, scale, mass and movement. In viewing this sculpture we become aware of our innate capacity to recognise and respond to the faces of others, and of our tendency to see figurative shapes in the abstract forms of nature."

Figurative shapes perhaps, but I can't see faces in this. I'm not convinced it's the best 'face' for a portrait gallery - after all, portraits are representations of specific people - but that's not to say I don't like it, and I've seen how people respond to it: children especially can't resist touching it and checking it from all angles.

The man with the donkey

This bronze sculpture, by Peter Corlett, stands to the west of the Australian War Memorial. It is Simpson and his donkey, 1915. Private John Simpson (born John Simpson Kirkpatrick in Britain) enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914. He landed at Gallipoli on that fateful day - April 25, 1915 - and worked as a stretcher bearer, using a donkey brought in to carry water to instead carry wounded men back to ANZAC Cove. On May 19, less than a month later, and while carrying two injured men, he was killed by machine gun fire.

You can read more about Simpson's story in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Kicking around in Macgregor

This sculpture is on the corner of Southern Cross Drive/Parkwood Road and MacFarlane Burnett Avenue in a new section of Macgregor that's still under development. No idea who the artist is or anything else about it, although I did hear that last week someone had added an old television, a lounge and a stuffed dog, but they've now been removed.

Confucius in Canberra

Canberra has its own little Chinatown in the northern suburb of Dickson. Well, not much more than a single street, and not even all of that is Chinese. There's Italian, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese and a pub called 'O'Neill's', so it's a bit of a mix, but there are a number of good Chinese restaurants in Woolley Street.

And on the corner of Woolley and Cape Streets stands this statue of Confucius. Carved from limestone in the birthplace of Confucius, the statue was given to Canberra to mark the tenth anniversary (in 2010) of the Sister City agreement between Canberra and Beijing.

Australia Day

On City Walk, just around the corner from yesterdays photo - a thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) and waratahs.

You are here

Just in case you weren't sure where you were ...

Taken in August last year, on the corner of City Walk and Akuna Street, Civic.

Photo of the Year 2011

Each year, on January 1, many City Daily Photo bloggers post their best photo of the preceding year. This is my choice:

This photo was originally posted on 8 June 2011, and features the ACT Memorial in Civic.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Giant monotreme in Ngunnawal

Tucked in among the trees beside the Platypus Centre shops in Ngunnawal, you might be lucky to spot the unique giant platypus, but only if you're very, very quiet ...

Merry Christmas from the bunyip

All dressed up

Remember the Kambah sheep that I photographed back in May? Well, it appears they do indeed get dressed up for Christmas!

Seqvanae

In front of the ACT Health building in Civic, on the corner of Alinga and Moore Streets and across the road from the GPO, sits a large polished stainless steel and red fibreglass sculpture by Michael Kitching. Dated 1978, it's titled 'Seqvanae', and it has (appropriately for its location) a number of health-related aspects in its design.

The title is spelt out in a format not unlike an optometrist's chart. Seqvanae is a reference to a Roman goddess of healing, who seems to be derived from the Gallic-Celtic Sequana, the goddess of the River Seine. A healing shrine was established at the springs which fed the Seine in the 1st or 2nd Century BC. The Romans, in typical Roman assimilation, took over the local goddess and shrine and made it bigger and better.

The red and silver crosses and the stylised snake and rod of Aesculapius are all internationally-recognised symbols related to health and medicine.

I'm not 100% sure what 'AFMSABOX' means, although I did find a comment that suggests they are the initials of members of the artist's family (including pets).

The Goongarline

This is part of an installation in Gungahlin called The Goongarline - and the similarity in pronunciation is no accident. The work is by Malcolm Utley, and was completed in 2008.

Fish pond

This is the pond where yesterday's frogs live (Cafe Injoy, Gold Creek).

I've nearly got 'im!

"Just give me a little boost and we can have currawong for dinner."
"Watch the face! Ow!"

Quirky frog sculpture out the front of Cafe Injoy at Gold Creek.

Climbing the walls

Did you notice in the background of yesterdays photos that there was a figure on the building across the road (Mort Street, Civic)? I haven't been able to find any information about it, and I wonder how many people actually see it, hanging up there ...

Circuitry

I walked through a city building last week and was confronted by this large, bright red metal sculpture I hadn't seen before. It called Circuitry, and it's by Fiona Hooton. The plaque on the wall just below it reads:

People are the circulating life blood of our city spaces. "Circuitry" traces our constant movement as we seek the answer to the riddle: where are we and where are we going?