I thought I will introduce you to my city.
I live in Canberra, which incidentally is the capital of Australia. Most people think Sydney is the capital of Australia, but trust me, it is Canberra.
When Australia became a federation of states in 1901, there was a fight between two rival cities - Melbourne and Sydney. Both wanted to be the capital. Eventually, a compromise was reached stipulating that Melbourne would be the capital on a temporary basis while a new capital would be built somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne as long as it was 100 miles (160 km) away from Sydney.
In1908, a government surveyor, Charles Scrivener, and his party chose a site because of its scenic beauty and access to water. It was named Canberra based on an aboriginal term called “Canberry” or “Canbury,” meaning “the meeting place.”
For the next two decades, a city was built in what once was known as Ngunnawal country for the local indigenous people. In May 1927, the Federal Parliament House was opened with much fanfare by the Duke of York, later King George VI.
My husband and I moved here in 1997 and have seen it almost double in size in the past ten years. Yet the total population here is less than 500,000.
For the rest of the Aussies, Canberra is the city of pollies (politicians) whom they passionately dislike. For us, the Canberrans, it is the best-kept secret of Australia, and we want to keep it that way.
I can keep going on and on about Canberra, but the thing I want to share with you is the public art of Canberra. Having travelled to many cities of the world, I have come to realise that you can sense the vibe of a city by the art it chooses to display. And Canberra’s no different.
Although some of the pieces are simply outrageous, there are many that capture the essence of the city. Like this one below:
This Sheep On A Chair is a satirical salute to one of Canberra’s early pastoralists — James Ainslie, who came to the region in 1825. A sheep watches while the other one is sitting on an armchair with its legs up, its jacket neatly folded on the side, reminds you of the politicians. Canberra is memorably known as “a good sheep paddock spoiled.”
Another one of my favourites statue in the city precinct is this Bush Pack by Amanda Stuart. A pack of seven bronze dogs in three groups appear to be running down City Walk.
In a gully where a creek used to run, three overgrown Casuarina seed pods appear to have dropped out of a grove of Casuarina trees and to be rolling down the grassy slope. At night the seed pods are lit from within by a gentle fibre optic light. These bronze pods are by the artists Mathew Harding.
Another one of Mathew Harding I like is called Cushion for no apparent reason. People are often seen lounging on this large stainless steel cushion.
A poem by Marion Halligan lies on scattered pages on the granite plinth below the cushion to form a tribute to Garema Place.
This bronze and copper sculpture by Keld Moseholm, called ‘On The Staircase’ contrasts a series of small human forms with the architectural weight of an oversized staircase. The artwork has a philosophical aspect by reflecting on the effect of reading on the spirit — ‘the more I read, the smaller I feel.’
This relatively new sculpture (2011) recreates an iconic photograph of John Curtin, Australia’s fourteenth Prime Minister (1941–45), and Treasurer Ben Chifley, who would become Australia’s sixteenth Prime Minister (1945–49).
Curtin and Chifley routinely walked along this route to the Parliament House from the nearby Kurrajong Hotel — where they generally stayed while Parliament was sitting.
Curtin and Chifley are two of Australia’s most respected Prime Ministers, and they were strong supporters of the development of Canberra as the nation’s capital.
But I have kept the best one for the last.
Known as The Parcel, it looks as if the truck has deposited it here in frustration not being able to find the delivery destination. But in reality, it is a carved illusion where an everyday object is transformed into an object of art.
The artist, Alex Sexton, has sculpted green and white marble to recreate a package with the creases and dents of a long journey.
What do you think?
Do these sculptures tell you more about my city?
What vibes do they give you?
The newsletter I recommend this week is Lonely Victories, a newsletter about writing and reading.
Hurley Winkler is endlessly fascinated by the creative process.
Each issue of Lonely Victories focuses on a different topic relating to the creative writing process.
The issues I liked particularly are How are we supposed to keep writing now and Will You Be My Writer Friend?
The book recommendation of the week is The Elements of Eloquence. It is my favourite book of all time on writing. In his entertaining and witty style, Mark Forsyth takes apart famous phrases and shows how we, too, can write memorable lines like Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Dickens and other great writers by learning figures of speech and literary devices.
Even if you are not aiming to achieve literary immortality or hoping to deliver the perfect one-liner, you can read the book for a good laugh.
Update on Write Your Book In 30 Days sprint.
That’s all from me this week.
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Thank you for the walk through your city! I'm delighted to hear you're writing from Australia! For over 2 years now I've been creating children's books for a website, www.storyberries.com which is based in Australia and as a result I've been enjoying learning more about Australia! I'm writing from Washington state USA. My city has, most prominently, a glockenspiel with fish running up the clock from the public square within the very large public park which is said to be "Vancouver Washington's living room". In addition to the fish sculptures large enough for kids to climb on there is a large wading pool and fountain. I think public art gives a community both places and stories about itself.
Thank you too for the book recommendation - I will look it up!!