GOMA, South Bank

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Tuesday June 4, we met Ross on the South Bank, toured the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). and learned about "bin chickens".

The South Bank Parklands is an important green space, entertainment and cultural district across the river from the city center. We were here for a dinner with Ross and Bev when we first arrived in Australia on this trip (see Brisbane Briefly) and have been many times over the years. Much of the current configuration is the result of a big development for the World Expo 88; more changes are likely for the Brisbane Summer Olympics in 2032. And there have been lots of changes since we last visited years ago.

Across the river from the parklands is the city center dominated by a huge glass modern hotel/entertainment/casino — the Star Brisbane. It's a new building for us and seems to be still under construction. In front that is the old Treasury Casino which has now been merged into the Star Brisbane. We're told the development has been controversial with some dubious money involved. Several pedestrian bridges cross the river to provide access to the city on one side and the parkland on the other.

In these parklands the artificial beach is probably one of the more well known, we've gone swimming there when visiting in their summer months. There's also a big ferris wheel, The Wheel of Brisbane, that dominates the skyline and is again new to us. It's big, but not as big as The London Eye. The cultural buildings are just as interesting. At the far north end of the parkland is the GOMA but there's also the State Library of Queensland, Performing Arts Center and more. I recall visiting the Queensland Art Gallery here many years ago and was quite impressed by the collection of more traditional artworks. We had not been to the modern art gallery and, with Ross, are curious.

We drove there and met up with Ross. Google maps took us by what we thought of as a very circuitous route (perhaps it's the "fastest"; certainly not the most direct) and we got mucked up crossing the William Joly Bridge missing our turn into the gallery. After much circling about I was able to drop Kate at the gallery and ended up parking underground some distance away under the Performing Arts Center. It's worth noting that all of this area along the river, and especially the underground parking, would have been flooded recently in 2022 and before (See Brisbane's history of  flooding). 

The GOMA is a modern building on the river bank. There's a pedestrian bridge over the river, the Kurilpa Bridge is itself a piece of modern piece of art!, and an outdoor patio/lunch area. We three have a brief conducted tour of the gallery focusing on the galleries of indigenous art. Some of that was traditional (like the feathered Digging Sticks (Wapitja) and baskets). Others were quirky like the Smurfs hidden in a traditional black and white art piece. Some of the exhibits were painful and heartbreaking like the pile of sugar skulls (see above) to commemorate those who died as slaves in the sugar fields. After the tour, another gallery was an exhibit of recent juried high school pieces. All were quite good, many challenging and thought provoking: "Pardon Me For Being Born Into A Nation of Bigots". As in Canada, there's a lot of ground to mend with those who were here first.

Afterwards we had lunch on an outdoor patio overlooking the river. There were several Australian Australian Ibis (a really lovely bird, think of Egypt and the Nile) wandering around on the patio, green space and when not wanted, onto the tables. They had learned that there would be food scraps they might get if they were patient and fast enough. Ross tells us that in Australia they are seen as pests and called "Bin Chickens". "Bin" as in "garbage bin".

The gallery was certainly worth a visit. I actually prefer the traditional art in the Queensland Art Gallery which is just next door. Much of modern art I do not understand or appreciate. But it was good to go and visit with Ross. It was an interesting and challenging experience. I was worried about Kate and her ankle problems but fortunately we were able to use a wheel chair to keep her off her feet.

— these notes composed Nov 24, '24.