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MoAD director, Daryl Karp, hopes people leave the new exhibition, Democracy DNA, able to see themselves in Australia’s political process. Photo: Denholm Samaras.
‘Tremendous sense of occasion’ as MoAD reopens with Democracy DNA
There is a tremendous sense of occasion at the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) today as the beloved national institution reopens four months after a fire at the doors of the building caused extensive damage.
The reopening will be marked with two new “fantastic” exhibitions: Democracy DNA: the People, the Prime Ministers and the World, and Statement: Jack Green’s Paintings.
With the team working “enormously hard” to reopen as soon as possible, MoAD director, Daryl Karp, lamented the fact a museum dedicated to democracy has been closed while the federal election has been called.
“It’s been so difficult to be closed, especially as an election has been called,” Karp told Canberra Weekly.
“We’re one of the very, very few museums of our kind in the world, and to have a museum of the democracy closed in the lead up to an election was tragic, not to mention the tragedy of the devastation to the building.”
Thankfully, the fire wasn’t as bad as first thought.
MoAD received some “really good news” in terms of the damage done to the building, with the doors “largely” repairable.
Constructed with four layers of jarrah pressed together, the door had hardened with age and was able to withstand the immense heat.
“Despite the intensity of the fire, the doors were so well built … we’ll lose one layer of the door that was totally singed, but because of the way it was built we were able to salvage it,” Karp said.
“Whilst it is substantial in the context of dollars, it is less than we expected.”
The fire did, however, damage the front stairs, the portico, and some of the works inside the building, while the sprinklers in the entrance caused water damage to its original parquetry floors.
The main entry will be open August, in part because the stairs must be retiled. Guests will continue to enter through the side door, with the main entry to be used ceremonially into the future.
‘See yourself in the story’ with Democracy DNA
Beautifully set in the old Parliamentary Library, Democracy DNA blends the room’s historic features with contemporary elements that activate it in ways that would have been unimaginable when it was first designed. The alcoves once lined with books are now home to a revamped Prime Minister’s Gallery, decorated with stunning new illustrations of Australia’s 30 Prime Ministers from Barton to Morrison, produced by New Zealand artist, Nigel Buchanan.
The process involved a substantial research element, with MoAD researchers going through historical documents like passports and old forms to uncover small details not immediately available, like the eye colour of Australia’s early PMs.
The timeline is different from the original incarnation in the old Prime Ministers of Australia gallery; it now shows them in the context of the events and people of their day.
“We wanted to make this rich, colourful people you can connect with, and the ideal at the end of it all is that you can see yourself in that story,” Karp said.
The gallery has been built around a central space featuring five futuristically styled stations, each centred on one of the five big debates of democracy: freedom, equality, common good, defending democracy, and crisis.
“Democracy is very much about the people, and so we wanted very much to link the PMs and the people in those key decisions.”
Karp said some of the most common feedback she’s received from the public in her nine years running the Museum is that people “don’t feel heard” in Australia’s political process.
“What we’re trying to do is give people a sense of being heard,” she said. “We’re weaving the concerns that our visitors are giving us into the sorts of stories that we’re telling, and hopefully they’ll come away engaged, informed, and excited that we have one of the top democracies in the world.
“What I want people to walk away from the gallery is with the understanding that democracy is a conversation and a journey, it’s not a fixed point in time, and they are part of that conversation.” Democracy DNA: the People, the Prime Ministers and the World is open at MoAD from 28 April. Admission is free, but bookings are essential via moadoph.gov.au
time out CIMF explores ‘polarity’
The 2022 Canberra International Music Festival (CIMF) is nearly upon us once again, and this year, artistic director Roland Peelman has set out to create a program reflecting the notion of polarity.
This year’s tagline, ‘Pole to Pole’, permeates the entire festival, with Peelman telling Canberra Weekly he’s long wanted to explore “the extremes of the world, and everything in between” at the CIMF.
“The festival itself for many years now, has reflected the notion of pole to pole, from one experience to another, it’s not just a classical musical experience,” he said. “There’s a huge variety of tastes, experiences, and what people expect from music.”
The 2022 festival also contains a strong environmental aspect: “I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time now a festival around our environment, our natural environment, and what’s happening with our planet,” Peelman said.
“The festival is all about that really; it has great, ancient statements about the world and the universe, and the creation of the world … and at the same time, we’re doing new work that throws new light on all of it.
“It’s very broad as an experience, and people take from it what they want.”
Another large component of CIMF is taking music to places “you don’t necessarily expect it”.
Performances, spanning large-scale shows to small, intimate experiences, are scheduled for a variety of venues often not associated with live music: Fyshwick’s BlocHaus bouldering centre, a yoga studio, the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and right beneath the Parliament House flagpole.
“They’re the most extraordinary environments, it’s anything but a concert hall,” Peelman said. “All of that creates something really special, it’s the kind of thing we can’t do throughout the year.”
But this idea is, once again, something that’s long existed within CIMF. Its main venue,
Festival director Roland Peelman said the 2022 Canberra International Music Festival explores and reflects the notion of polarity. Photo: Denholm Samaras.
The Fitter’s Workshop in Kingston, is itself a repurposed industrial building.
“It’s a very plain building, but it sounds amazing and it’s a great thing every year to fit it out into a very unusual concert hall,” Peelman said. The Canberra International Music Festival runs 29 April to 8 May at venues across Canberra; cimf.org.au Read an extended version of this story at canberraweekly.com.au
- Denholm Samaras
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Roger Beale harnesses The Magic of Light
cclaimed Canberra artist Roger Beale’s latest exhibition, The Magic of Light, sees the classically trained painter depict light beautifully falling across flowers, landscapes and people.
Open from this Saturday at Fyshwick’s Humble House Gallery, Beale has painted the 60 artworks in the exhibition since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, choosing to concentrate on light as opposed to shadow.
“You can only really capture light if you have shadow, but it’s a happy shadow,” he said.
Bursting with energy, Beale painted the works with tremendous care and precision, ensuring light is touching the parts of the scene he intended it to.
The subject matter spans from the hyperlocal to worldly; flowers captured at Floriade and at Beale’s Canberra home hang alongside a suite of landscapes and character studies from sketchbooks and memories of “the places I couldn’t travel to during lockdown”, namely Paris and Italy.
He started work on the exhibition with a series of photographs and drawings done at the last full-scale Floriade in 2019 before lockdown.
After photographing a field of poppies at Floriade for reference, one flower in particular caught Beale’s eye, which inspired twin 2m-high paintings of that singular poppy: one against a black background and one on white.
Landscapes include a whole suite devoted to Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens, Madrid’s El Retiro Park, dramatic Sicilian landscapes, and the vineyards and alps of northern Italy.
Beale said his character studies are best described as “tronies” – a type of work common in Dutch Golden Age painting depicting anonymous sitters – all based on people spotted in Paris.
“The people I drew were mainly in bars or bistros, sometimes in art galleries, and they’re just little character studies in oils,” he said.
The works vary in scale from very small studies through to vast canvases that would look stunning in contemporary or traditional homes. The diversity also makes for an engaging experience walking through the exhibition space.
“It’s a terrific venue with high walls and good lighting, and I’m thrilled with the way the exhibition looks,” Beale said.
Confined to a wheelchair for many years after having contracted polio as a child in the 1940s, he intuitively began painting and drawing throughout his childhood as a way of thinking about life outside.
Deciding to pursue university over art school, which was followed by a distinguished career in the public service, Beale said he never stopped painting.
Having undergone extensive training, including time at the Florence Art Academy, Beale has exhibited professionally since 1984.
Working with very expensive paints, he takes a very carefully considered and technically accurate approach when applying them.
“The techniques I use are the sorts of techniques painters in the Renaissance and Baroque used, and that’s what helps the works glow,” he said.
The Magic of Light
Solo exhibition by Roger Beale AO 30 April – 29 May
Light caressing the edge of an object, revealing its personality, then fading into darkness combines with composition and colour to make memorable art
Join us at the opening 2pm Saturday 30 April
Find out more at: www.humblehouse.com.au
93 Wollongong St Fyshwick Canberra ACT Australia | Open Wed - Sun 10am - 4pm Phone (02) 6228 1988 | @humblehousegallery
Local teen makes The Voice blind auditions
Fifteen-year-old Canberra singer Tahalianna Soward-Mahanga made it to the blind audition stage of this year’s season of The Voice, performing At Last by Etta James. Imagine your 15-year-old self, standing on stage with bright lights, cameras, a live audience, and a panel of Keith Urban, Jessica Mauboy, Rita Ora, and Guy Sebastian all there to hear you sing.
That was a reality for Canberran Tahalianna Soward-Mahanga, who valiantly made it to the blind audition stage of this year’s season of The Voice.
Singing At Last by Etta James, while none of the judges’ chairs turned on the night, it was a wonderful experience for the talented teenager.
Tahalianna told Canberra Weekly she took a lot away from the encounter; namely a greater sense of confi dence, and certainty that singing is what she wants to do.
“I loved being on the show, it was really fun,” she said. “It gave me a glimpse of what it’s like to be on stage in front of the public’s eye.
“For me, it made me want to be a singer even more, so that’s still a dream of mine … Over the years I thought it was a hobby, but now I’m more serious about it.”
Tahalianna’s The Voice adventure began in June 2021. While watching last year’s season with her family, she turned to her mother, Patrice, and said she’d like to have a go at it.
From there, they recorded a video audition, which was noticed by the producers. After sending another video through, she was invited to Sydney to participate in the show’s famous blind audition stage.
Although the actual audition went by in the blink of an eye, everything that transpired in the lead up amounted to a big day. A long drive to the studio was followed by vocal coaching and time in the hair and makeup chair.
“I was sitting behind the doors and there were three camera men around me,” she said. “I was pumping myself up, walking back and
forth, I was so nervous.”
After a quick word from the producers, the doors opened onto the stage.
“The lights were shining, I was like ‘oh my god’, but I just put on a face because I was ready.”
Tahalianna walked away content and proud of her performance.
“I thought I gave a great performance; I was really proud of myself, and the crowd was going crazy.”
Patrice said the entire experience with the show was very positive, with the crew, the judges, and the other performers all showing Tahalianna a great deal of kindness and respect.
“Everyone we met was so nice and respectful,” she said.
Patrice was there to support and encourage her daughter the entire time.
“My biggest thing was I wanted her to be a kid while she could be a kid, and enjoy her childhood and make sure it wasn’t anything that would take away from her,” Patrice said.
“But she was determined, it brought out her determination and she was like ‘let’s go’.”
Having grown up in Canberra, Tahalianna and her family are heavily involved in Canberra’s Indigenous community and take great pride in their culture.
Having performed at many cultural events, she credits her family and her wider community for their encouragement and support.
“Canberra has been very good with opportunities for my singing,” she said.
“I mainly perform for community events as well, so having that and getting to perform in front of my family, my friends, elders of this community has been great.
“I’m looking forward to doing stuff outside of Canberra, too.”
Patrice is very proud of the positive infl uence her daughter has over her peers.
“A lot of the young kids, they follow her, especially in our community, but also at her schools she’s got huge followings,” she said.
“The one thing they say about Tahalianna is when she touches people and becomes friends with them, she’s so kind and she brings people along with her.”
- Denholm Samaras
Having danced and performed locally for most of her life, Tahalianna credits her family and Canberra’s wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community for their encouragement and support.
National Gallery A TUSCAN LUNCH
INSPIRED BY JEFFREY SMART’S LOVE OF ITALY AND GREAT ITALIAN TRATTORIAS Sat 7 May, Sun 8 May Sat 14 May, Sun 15 May 11.30am–1pm, 1.30–3pm Tickets $55 adult, $49.50 members Includes 2 courses and a glass of wine, juice or soft drink View menu and book tickets nga.gov.au
