Page 2956 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 14 August 2019
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world that we had our own story to tell in a landscape that is indeed unique. Born in Melbourne in 1917, of working class roots, Nolan famously rejected formal art training and instead worked as a commercial artist. He read poetry and literature voraciously and he shared ideas with other young artists.
While we probably well know the image of the Kelly mask, one thing that people might not know about Sidney Nolan is just how generous he was. He wanted to share his artistic legacy with the people of Australia, and this collection that is managed by CMAG, on behalf of the Australian government, was his gift to the nation. It is a testament to his vision, to his generosity and to his desire to leave an enduring legacy for those who followed him.
The new space up the stairs at CMAG marks a new era for the Nolan Collection. It will be an ongoing home for the collection, newly refitted with museum-standard temperature and humidity control. It is the first stage of a project to upgrade the facilities at CMAG with capital funding that has been provided by the ACT government, which will also include upgrading and expanding CMAG’s storage facility to expand CMAG’s capacity to collect, to conserve and to exhibit our region’s art and history into the future. Displayed in their new home, the works have been reinterpreted to tell Nolan’s story chronologically, and this allows visitors to go on the creative journey with the artist as he explores ideas, materials and different techniques.
The exhibition mainly comprises works gifted by Nolan but I am also delighted to advise members that it includes a beautiful work that has been recently purchased at auction by CMAG for the collection. It is called the Rite of Spring and it is an insight into another of Nolan’s passions: designing sets for opera, theatre and dance. The work was part of the design process for the set of the 1962 ballet of the same name and, while the ballet was presented at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, Nolan was inspired by his memories of the Central Australian desert landscape.
Another important component of the exhibition is the young Nolan project. That is a display wall just outside the gallery that is part of a learning program at CMAG. At the opening last week I met with year 1 students from the Ainslie Primary School whose work is currently on display there. The work of hundreds more students will feature there in the future. The Ainslie students gifted me with a fantastic Nolan-inspired drawing, and that is now on display in my office.
I place on record my thanks to the staff at CMAG for their excellent work on this exhibition and I encourage all members and everyone across Canberra to visit the new display space, to dive into the wonderful story of Sidney Nolan.
Environment—Giralang and Kaleen
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (6.02): I rise this evening to update the Assembly on recent events in Giralang and Kaleen. On Saturday 22 June I, along with Alicia Payne, the member for Canberra, hosted a community clean-up and barbecue at Giralang pond in collaboration with the Giralang Pond Landcare Group. We invited all residents in Giralang and Kaleen to come down to the Giralang pond for a morning of hands-on environmentalism, by cleaning up all the rubbish that had found its way into the pond.
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