AUTHENTIC ADELAIDE.

 There's a bit of celebrating going on in Adelaide at the moment... The Royal South Australian Society of Arts is 160 years old & the Adelaide Town Hall is 150 years old! ( That's the Town Hall above & I apologize for such an inelegant photo!!)

Whilst 150 may not be very old to those of you living in Europe, and only a mere drop in the bucket for ye of Indigenous cultures...to us here in Adelaide...that's impressively old!

To mark the occasion the RSASA & Town Hall have joined forces to present an exhibition entitled 'Authentic Adelaide'. Last night (1 December'16) was the opening & I was lucky enough to be able to attend.

The city of Adelaide is a source of inspiration for a lot of my work, so you can imagine how keen I was to try & have some of my art accepted for this exhibition. I submitted 3 pieces & was fortunate to have 2 pieces accepted.

The artworks line the walls of the upstairs foyer & the first thing that hit me on entering was...WOW...what a great space!  It didn't take much perusing of artworks to also recognise that this is a very interesting exhibition due to the incredible variety of techniques & styles on display, all highlighting something about this beautiful city.  I was also delighted to see that I was in good company as the textile arts were well represented with; an impressive machine embroidered piece by Cheryl Bridgart, a beautiful woven piece inspired by the Botanic Garden's lotus pond by Bev Bills, a contemporary construction inspired tapestry by Katharina Urban & a clever quilt by RSASA President Vikki Waller that presents a historical snapshot of the city.

The atmosphere was fabulous, a real sense of delight & happiness.  The speeches were brief, to the point & laced with humour....always a good start!  We werent allowed to take photos of the artworks except our own, so please excuse the following!!

The event was opened by the Lady Mayoress Genevieve Theseira-Haese, who seemed very sincere in her appreciation of the arts.  She spent some time meeting & mixing with those gathered & was lovely enough to offer to take a photo of me in front of one of my pieces when I was clearly having trouble trying to do a selfie!!!  Fellow artist Swee Wah Yew then took this shot of Genevieve with me...arent I lucky!!

The piece we are standing in front of is inspired by Adelaide Arcade, and references it's coloured tiles, it's floor plan, the exterior view & of course, some of it's architectural features.

This one was taken by fellow artist Liz Stevenson in front of my other inclusion, 'Once Were Trees'.

 This piece refers to the fact that this city was once a significant  meeting place for the indigenous  Kaurna people & was covered in trees.  White settlement transformed this place into a grid of roads, then a city of buildings...a lot of the older ones bearing decorative features reminescent of architecture from our European past. The circle of ovoid shapes at the top refers to the babies that are buried in circles ( to keep each other company) in the West Terrace Cemetery.

Hmm...that wasn't very well planned was it...I've ended on a somber note!! Sorry about that.

The good news is...this exhibition is on until 15 January, week days only 9-5.  It is well worth seeing & even includes an intriguing merge of taxidermy & jewellery!!!! If you're in the city...take a peek!