JOAN. Dr Siva Namasivayam's extraordinary talk at the Sarjeant Gallery remains in my heart and mind.
I have spoken to many friends who regretted not being able to come that day and I wonder if the talk could be given again. I am sure that most organisations here in Whanganui would value including the doctor's talk in their yearly programme and I am determined to bring together the senior students of our local schools to be inspired and moved by this gracious and unassuming man.
Siva titled his talk Mission To Mars, though it was Mosul, Iraq that he spoke about. Why? Because this land is so completely foreign to those of us who live peacefully in our own area of this world and have absolutely no true idea of how it is to be in a war torn, bombarded city where death and pain and fear are everyday companions. Photos of beautiful, innocent young people with horrific wounds and eyes that drew you to their souls, a beautiful sunset over the roofs of the city above the dust, the smoke of battle and the noise of gunshots. The doctor showed and described all this. A hospital where friend and enemy alike are cared for, bodies healed, compassion and love offered to wounded hearts and minds. The companionship of other doctors of all ages and ethnicity who lived together in guarded quarters, making the dangerous journey back and forwards, usually only in daylight. Tolerance and compassion is infectious, said the doctor. I thought how the world would change if we all, quite simply, lived with that as our mantra. Medecins Sans Frontieres offer their skills in places of trauma where hope, rehabilitation and honest care can bring about miraculous change. There was so much more in Siva's talk. As I listened to him, I gazed at this human being willing and brave enough to do what he does, at risk of his life and the exhaustion of his soul. I honour him.
MIKE. The 58th National Exhibition of the NZ Society of Potters is on show at Rick Rudd's Quartz Museum. It really is a splendid exhibition and it is well worth spending an hour there. It is the first time since 1987 that Whanganui has hosted this event, when Rick himself was convener. From that show 30 years ago, four potters are included in the present one, including Rick. The variety of shapes, colours, figures, glazes and ideas is quite staggering. After making notes on several items, I realised that I would be swamped for space, so a truncated list of winners only will have to suffice. The judge for the selection of artists and the awards was Paul Winspear of Golden Bay.
Helen Yau, from Auckland, received the Excellence award for Cocoon, a delicate, intricate mesh of clay, resembling Ena Sharples' hairnet! That is not a put-down! I loved Ena. I loved Cocoon. The Belton Smith Non-Functional award went to Kirsty Gardiner of Masterton, for Batch, a work consisting of 38 green and white moths. Positioned on the wall, they looked stunning - and lifelike. As a complement, the Functional Award, sponsored by Tree Gallery, went to Royce McGlashen for his four Nelson Plates. To round off the four major recipients, Jenny Taylor won the First Time Exhibitor award, gifted by the Rick Rudd Foundation. Art Centre consisted of two small bay windows with pillars, similar to cathedral cloisters. In addition to the other three downstairs rooms designated for this show, there is a larger one displaying a New Zealand collection, a veritable history of pottery from the early 20th century till now.
No visit to Quartz would be complete without a viewing of the upper area, where the John Parker Room is now established, along with the Simon Manchester Collection. Boys of the 70s, in the latter, is an explosion of colour and frenetic design by Andy Kingston and Richard Stratton. Detailed works, in weird and wonderful shapes greet you. Paul Maseyk's creations appealed more, probably because two of them were clearly influenced by the amphorae of the ancient Greeks, a shape I find aesthetically pleasing.
The permanent exhibition delineating Rick's progress through his career is fascinating, especially when you reach the Big Pots area. There are some monumental 'bowls', solid columns, over a metre high, with a bowl-shaped top. Garden World resembles a group of headstones in a cemetery, and the spiral Tea pot, almost 2m in length, would require both skill and strength to manipulate it for pouring. "Would it work?" I asked. "Probably," Rick replied. "But you'd have to take care not to poke someone's eye out!" Sitting on the comfy sofa , relaxing to the soothing accompaniment of Water Work, I could easily have dozed off. "People have!" said Rick.
The NZSP exhibition runs until mid-November and deserves to be seen. The same applies - even more so! - to the whole complex of Quartz.
MIKE. My Child Leaves Home is an exhibition of photographs at the Yellow House, by 10 artists, New Zealand and international, in response to Jane O'Shea's poem, describing the painful separation from a love connection. Two of the artists quoted the last line of Jane's poem as being the one which most affected them, after a child had left the nest. 'And come back to me in the space between' prompted their works. Paul Willyams found himself thinking in 'pathways, stages, connections', patterns which recalled his links with the Ningaloo Road and salt ponds near Shark Bay in Western Australia. The result is a brightly coloured picture, layered in different levels. Bruce Girdwood, from Greytown, was moved by the same line, remembering his son Tristan's journey overseas at 17, firstly to Australia, subsequently to Africa for volunteer work. Family snapshots were dotted around, subdued and not easy to distinguish under criss-crossed lines, all beneath a blend of brown, orange and sepia.
For Alys Davidson, a chrysalis discovered in a garden was symbolic of her child leaving home. Three photographs of a garden, devoid of children but full of items recalling their presence, was presented by Anita Kirkpatrick. 'Silence and an empty bed' was what she noticed most. It is well worth browsing round these photographs, coffee in your hand. Yellow House is welcoming and busy.
