{"id":567,"date":"2016-03-23T12:59:27","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T02:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marianmcguinness.com\/?p=567"},"modified":"2016-05-12T17:02:03","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T07:02:03","slug":"australia-art-through-the-eyes-of-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marianmcguinness.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/23\/australia-art-through-the-eyes-of-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia: art through the eyes of children"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SAMSUNG<\/a>

an artful gallery<\/p><\/div>\n

The members of the Northern Sydney sub-branch of the Children’s Book Council (CBCA) were in for a treat when they gathered on Saturday morning (19h March) in the imposing foyer of the Art Gallery of NSW.<\/p>\n

Approaching\u00a0its glowing sandstone exterior flanked by mock columns and scribed by the names of the greats of Western art, such as: Giotto, Rembrandt, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, and framed\u00a0by the parklands of the Domain and Woolloomooloo Bay, this edifice to art commands your full attention.<\/p>\n

And it was full attention and imagination needed when we started our\u00a0Storytelling through Art<\/em> tour with our vice-president and multi-hatted, multi-talented, Lindy Batchelor. Lindy is\u00a0a volunteer children’s guide at the gallery, and as writers, librarians and illustrators,\u00a0we were to become\u00a0the children on the tour.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>

a sobering truth<\/p><\/div>\n

We started in the oldest wing delighting in the colours and images. At John Glover’s 1838\u00a0Natives on the Ouse River, Van Diemen’s Land,\u00a0<\/em>we looked at backgrounds, middle grounds and foregrounds; we reenacted the action – fishing, swimming and cooking. Then Lindy showed us a map and told us that many\u00a0in the painting were the last Tasmanian aboriginals before they were rounded up and taken to Flinders Island.<\/p>\n

\"so<\/a>

so much to tell<\/p><\/div>\n

As we gathered at our next painting, David Davies’ From a Distant Land (1889),\u00a0<\/em>Lindy handed out tokens: a letter, candle, a woman’s photo, shoe polish. We each had to tell the story of the painting. As the postman rode away, what was happening in the hut? ‘Look into the shadows; look at his shoes,’ Lindy urged. Relating to the kids on her regular tours, she said it was great, ‘because it teaches the kids to interact; to trust their eyes; to tell their own story.’<\/p>\n

\"Lindy's<\/a>

Lindy’s bag of interactive tricks<\/p><\/div>\n

After looking around the 3-D of sculptures, and discovering unimagined treasures that the sculptor had hidden, we came to another interactive part of our children’s tour. We stood in front of Thomas Cooper Gotch’s 1891\u00a0My Crown and Sceptre.\u00a0<\/em>Lindy knows exactly how to capture the imagination of children as she seats one of our group, Alicia, on a seat in front of the painting. It is the story of Phyllis (Gotch’s daughter) celebrating the Queen of the May. As we decided what Alicia needed, Lindy dressed her until she transformed into Phyllis. Alicia declared, ‘I feel royal and want to be painted!’<\/p>\n

\"Alicia<\/a>

Alicia or Phyllis?<\/p><\/div>\n

We reenacted Sir Frederic Leighton’s white marble statue, An Athlete Wrestling\u00a0with a Python,\u00a0<\/em>and listened to the sounds in paintings: ‘What can you hear?’ Lindy kept urging us on. We looked at shadows cast by reimagined eucalyptus poles and pondered over\u00a0the spiritual metaphor of such.<\/p>\n

At Grace Cossington Smith’s 1928,\u00a0The curve of the bridge,<\/em> Lindy brought out a handful of brushes for us to contemplate how the artist\u00a0would have used them.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>

a brush with the bridge<\/p><\/div>\n

We looked at the traditional carvings and paintings on the Pukumani grave posts from the Tiwi Islands, and at John Olsen’s 1963\u00a0Five Bells, <\/em>Lindy urged us to ‘take your line for a walk\u00a0and see where it takes you,’ before she produced a swatch of blue colours for us to try and connect with the painting.<\/p>\n

\"the<\/a>

the Pukumani ceremony is unique to Tiwi – a final goodbye<\/p><\/div>\n

A final walk through the John Kaldor contemporary gallery found us wondering over reimaginings: the playful and dynamic ways modern artists have used colour. Lindy gave us each a coloured pipe cleaner and we had to twist and weave it to create one of the 87 tin sculptures in Robert Klippel’s display. ‘It makes you look more closely,’ says Lindy.<\/p>\n

\"SAMSUNG<\/a>

wire imaginings<\/p><\/div>\n

At the end of our\u00a0Storytelling through Art<\/em> tour we were thinking how lucky children are today who can have this much interaction and fun with so many treasures in such a magnificent building and with such an expert. If you would like to see what’s on offer for your child or school group, see:\u00a0http:\/\/www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au\/discover-art\/gallery-kids\/<\/p>\n

\"grown-up<\/a>

grown-up kids of the CBCA – Art through Storytelling – what a happy group<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The members of the Northern Sydney sub-branch of the Children’s Book Council (CBCA) were in for a treat when they gathered on Saturday morning (19h March) in the imposing foyer of the Art Gallery of NSW. Approaching\u00a0its glowing sandstone exterior flanked by mock columns and scribed by the names of the greats of Western art, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,1],"tags":[30,12,31,32],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n