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Urban Suburban: a place where we live



The Canberra Museum and Gallery is holding an exhibition entitled Urban Suburban from 7 March to June 21, 2015. Focusing on urban and suburban Canberra, the capital of Australia, the exhibit covers the 1960s to the present day.

It explores the notion of where we live, away from the notion of Canberra as the nation’s capital. Canberra was chosen as the site for the capital in 1908, with the urban design selected through an international competition in 1911.

The works in the exhibition reinforce the natural “bush” beauty of the city, its unique art scene, and status as a “purpose-built” capital city – in both an urban and suburban setting. Thirty-one artists have their works on display. These include "Drowning in autumn" (2001), clay and paint/glaze by Bev Hogg (1955-), "By the pattern of a snowflake" (1993), metal, wood and found objects - old garden rakes - by Neil Roberts (1954-2002), "Inhabiting the archive" (1997), composition board and synthetic polymer paint - of a suburban house - by David Watt (1952-1998), "Divided land 1" (1998), galvanised iron by Ingo Kleinert (1941) - a sheet of rusty iron that looks like house bricks, Lee Grant's (1973-) inkjet prints from the Belco pride series (2008), and "Small matters 1-6" (1984) screen prints by Toni Robertson (1953-).

Throughout the exhibition, individual artists will present “floor talks” about their work in relation to the urban suburban theme, what inspired them, and how the city and surrounding area has developed and changed throughout the years from the 1960s.

At the end of April (April 28-30) the T is for Toddler: My town your town activity will involve urban suburban children, aged 2-3 years, and their parents, guardians, or carers, to re-imagine the colour and shape of daily life in Canberra through hands-on, practical activities in the Canberra Museum and Gallery studio. On June 6, a poetry reading will explore Canberra in terms of its back streets, parks, and swimming pools, through the lens of poetry. Four Canberran poets will present readings especially commissioned for the exhibit, Urban Suburban.











MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).


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