Ian Marr

Ashfield’s Rosetta Stone was today installed, set and bolted to a galvanised steel cradle, outside Thirning Villa, a late Georgian villa set among tennis courts, a bowling club and a cricket ground, all of which were once orchards of the A’Beckett family.

The stone bears an inscription in nine languages of a fragment from Homer’s Iliad – ‘No stranger shall go empty from our door, for we ourselves have eaten the bread of strangers in other lands”.

The work is a foundation work for a sculpture garden associated with the Ashfield Council’s Artist-in-Residence program.

It floats as though it was a significant treasure from deep antiquity: which one day it may be.

Classical column with folkloric expletive

Image from Nigel Lendon’s blog Iconophilia

… but more intensely so if you are trying do do large scale work on industrial sites in Sydney.

Because car racing is coming to the Olympic site, my stonemason mate must leave Homebush Bay – great upheaval – and now he (and I) have a site on the old James Hardie factory site at Camellia, near Parramatta.

Farmed in the 1790s, it became part of the Macarthurs’ Elizabeth Farm estate before becoming, in the 1850s, a famous, beautiful and beloved camellia nursery. From 1916 to 1996 it was an asbestos board factory (and village for the workers). Now it is one of Sydney’s Cinderella places, a vast waste of concrete, bordered by mangroves and camphor laurels, the little Camellia railway station where the suburban trains toot – and the extraordinary burden of the James Hardie story weighing over it all.

In Newcastle this evening for the launch of ‘The Night Road’, this year’s Newcastle Poetry Prize anthology. Ian’s poems ‘Travels in Winter’ were selected for inclusion by the judges!

A historical and contemporary look at Orange’s gardens, ‘Orange Blossoms’, was opened today by today’s Mayor, who made some strong commitments to making progress towards a museum for Orange, and Trisha Dixon. Gallery One was looking beautiful and full of gardeners and others of all ages.

From the gallery website:
September 19 to November 1: The history of gardens and garden art and design in Orange district, including relevant socioeconomic facts and Garden Gnomes. Funded by ArtsNSW, a major cross-disciplinary exhibition.

Exhibition opens, follow-up to the 6 x 6 project (six Indigenous artists meeting with six non-Indigenous artists, Moree)

Invitation details:

Moree Plains Gallery and Beyond Empathy invite you to the opening of

GULA GAMA-LI

GULA GAMA-LI is a five year journey of the Moree community embracing its children and families through Mubali, Connections and 6×6. The exhibition will be opened by The Honourable Virginia Judge MP, Minister assisting the Premier on the Arts, on Friday 11th September at 6pm …

followed by the launch of Gaayili Yugal (CD of children’s songs) and Gaayli-Gal (book of photographs illustrating the stages of child development) from Connections on Saturday 12th September at 12.30 pm for a barbeque lunch

at the Moree Plains Gallery, 25 Frome Street, Moree, NSW 2440, (02) 6757 3320

Last year Taste Orange @ Bondi was huge, and we are hoping for a busy time on the promenade on Sunday. Ian has brought down a big table to carve, and I will be bringing him sips of the best wine in the Pavilion.

On the weekend of 22-23 August I’m looking forward to seeing Ian’s paintings and inscriptions at Holmwood Gallery at 26 Queen Street Woollahra, as part of the extended Taste Orange events in Sydney.

More details of the other partners at the Holmwoods’ Taste Orange event are listed on this page:

http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/food-events-australia/holmwood-gallery-taste-orange.aspx

The stone work should look lovely in that courtyard.

And I do like Angullong Wines!

Luke Scibberas in his kitchen, on his phone.