One perk of this program is that we get to study Australian Art with a great lecturer who knows the local galleries by heart. Last night we visited the AGNSW (Art Gallery of New South Wales) with Lorraine, having rescheduled from our usual Friday morning slot (which means we have a three-day break to symbolize the midpoint of our quarter here). Since Wednesdays are late-opening days, with live jazz in one of the foyers, I thanked my lucky stars for having a collaborator as able and deft at Lorraine.
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| L in front of "On the wallaby trail" |
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I had the students meet an hour early to write and reflect on what they
were expecting to see (and not see) based on Lorraine's lecture the
previous week, and of course not everyone could manage to show up,
despite having known about the schedule tweak for two weeks and despite
my "Come ta Jayzus" peroration about timely attendance the previous
class. I should note that the person who had catalyzed the peroration
was actually on time for only the fifth time in 12 class meetings...
That said, the ducklings did a great job not only keeping up but actually paying attention and asking good questions. We blazed through some of L's favorite places in the museum, and did plenty of connecting between what we had studied the week before and what we were seeing now. Likewise, there were good connections to make with the biodiversity / climate readings we had been doing, and I was pleasantly surprised at some of the comments from people.
This slightly spooky sculpture is part of an installation that used to be in someone's house / mansion, which engendered a certain amount of hilarity. "Don't misbehave, or I'll send you to . . .
the clown room." OK, it seemed funny to me at the time, which goes to show how stressed out I have been with the QA drama.
Here's hoping that little contretemps is finished and the rest of the trip goes swimmingly well. A, A and I are are off to our long-weekend junket to Cairns and a brief taste of the Great Barrier Reef now--in fact this is being sent from the departure lounge, as I benefit from a flight delay and the free Internet connectivity...
And as a parting shot, here's some of the surprising local fauna spotted in our "boutique apartment," showing just how egalitarian a society Oz really is:
