Art in Perth

Leaving sunny breezy Exmouth we hopped on a plane from tiny Learmonth airport (named after a WW2 fighter commander – an interesting story there) and flew back over our tracks (looking just as empty as when we drove up) to rainy cold Perth! Which seemed to be a surprise to everyone as rain is very unusual outside winter months.

We visited the art gallery of Western Australia- a very well laid out bright collection of galleries.

We looked mostly at modern / contemporary art – both aboriginal and European settlers.

We saw several that reflected the turquoise and orange/ red palette of the North West where we had just been; this was out of our plane window:

And this by Daniel Walbidi – the tiny dots represent distance which we now appreciate:

Here’s similar palette by Guy Grey-Smith:

There were moving and impactful pieces on the dislocation of indigenous people, especially with regard to the enforced removal of aboriginal children from their families into white institutions (1905-1970s) where they were without love or heritage – known now as the Stolen Generations. The first is called Taken Away by Sally Morgan, who was brought up in Perth unaware of her aboriginal heritage and told her skin colour was because of Indian ancestors.

This one is by Sandra Hill, born 1951, who was a removed child – it’s about her journey through the removal policy back to a place of safety and belonging, called Djooroot (track, path):

This is also by her, ‘Homemaker #4’ I particularly like the very English biscuit selection!

This, by Sally Morgan again, is about Rottnest island – now a playground for Perthers and tourists but used to be an oppressive penal colony for indigenous people:

There were also some wonderful abstracts including this one merging all the UN flags(!) by Helen Smith:

And we liked these too

Guy Grey-Smith impressed us with vibrant colours reminiscent of Gauguin.

My personal favourites were these by indigeonous artist Lance (Tjyllyungoo) Chadd who, although painting in the European style, demonstrates a deep connection with the serenity of these eucalypt forests at dawn –  it might be just because I really like trees 😊

Back at the Apple shop David failed miserably to persuade them that his 7 month old phone with IP67 (pretty water-resistant) should A. not have water damage (which apparently voids the warranty and means they won’t even try to fix it) or B. if it does it’s obviously a manufacturer fault as he hasn’t been swimming with his phone. It seems Apple believe no phone can leave their factory with imperfect seals and that the customer is always wrong. A bad apple spoils the lot we think… there was a lot less frustration before mobile phones!

Fortunately David being David brought a back up phone with him and we still have mine (also supposed to be water resistant but I now doubt it). It just means he can’t take nice photos with his phone.

We had a nice meal at Wildflowers restaurant- very smart and excellent fare – I had my first ever avocado snow! Yes – exactly!

The meal and wine were a soothing balm from Apple and we went to bed happy ready to fly to Darwin and warmer climes tomorrow

Goodbye lovely Perth and Western Australia!