Griffith Post Office reunion

Retired staff recently returned to the counter of the Griffith Post Office and remembered old times

Shown here are Ken Harrison, Stewart Grimison, Les Morris, Denise Beale, Postmaster Jim Cridland and Helen Stacey.

Ern Myott and Jack Carroll were engaged on morse telegraph duties and they could not leave the circuit unattended to appear in the photo.

We encourage all former staff of the Griffith Post Office to reacquaint themselves with the former facilities and hope they will share their memories for our exhibitions.

Artist talk

The closing of the Ngurambang exhibition was a chance to hear from the artists involved

Peita Vincent took this photo as I discussed how my work in natural resource management inspired a prize-winning photograph.

Year 7 Explores Ngurambang

This week I spoke with a class from Murrumbidgee Regional High School:

Year 7 HSIE were lucky enough to head along to the Griffith Regional Art Gallery to view the Ngurambang exhibition today.
Ngurambang is the Wiradjuri word for “country”. Curated by Jason Richardson, the collection is a meditation by local Riverina artists on their relationship with the landscape. The exhibition features works in a variety of media including text, textiles, sound, painting, photography, found and manipulated objects.
Students also got to meet Jo Roberts and Hape Kiddle, two of the artists featured in the exhibition. Jo walked the students through her interactive piece that uses the cut up technique to explore the intersection of text, place, philosophy, history, magic and poetry. Meanwhile, Hape discussed his seed pod carved from the coveted King Billy pine using traditional Maori carving techniques.
“Ngurambang is about exploring relationship with the landscape,” explains exhibition curator Jason Richardson, “There are so many ways that landscape is viewed but also art has so many different layers of meaning. It’s about teasing apart those ideas apart in different media reflecting the different creative practices around the Riverina.”
The Ngurambang exhibition runs from Saturday 1 July until Sunday 20 August at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery.

 

Comments about the exhibition

My partner encouraged me to look inside the visitor book at the gallery and there was a comment that singled out one of my artworks!

Buckaroo Banzai

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension was released in August 1984

I watched this film in 1987 because I liked Peter Weller in Robocop and saw it was based on a comic.

It blew my mind!

The inter-dimensional battles came five years or so before I read Lovecraft.

Chris Orchard profile

Chris Orchard is a multimedia artist who features in the exhibition Ngurambang (Our Riverina) at Griffith Regional Art Gallery from 1 July to 20 August 2023. 

This video was supported by Western Riverina Arts and Create NSW through funding from the NSW Government.

The Ganzfeld Procedure

From Dreamtime to Dinnertime

Have you seen the animation in the Museum's exhibition about Murray Cod?

It was produced by Aunty Lorraine Tye and shares how a formidable fish named Ponde formed the great river, as well as many of the species that populate inland waterways.

In recent years Murray Cod have become a popular export from our region as a premium aquaculture product, and the exhibition also details how these remarkable fish have gone from critically endangered to being stocked on supermarket shelves.

Marita Macklin profile

 

Marita is a textile artist who features in the Exhibition | Ngurambang: Our Riverina at Griffith Regional Art Gallery from 1 July to 20 August 2023. 

Follow Marita Macklin Bespoke Embroidery to see her work. 

This video was supported by Western Riverina Arts and Create NSW through funding from the NSW Government.

Mental metal

These abandoned metal boxes

They have developed beautiful patterns.

I can see all sorts of things.

Dr Greg Pritchard

 

Greg is a multi-disciplinary artist who features in the exhibition Ngurambang (Our Riverina) at Griffith Regional Art Gallery from 1 July to 20 August 2023. 

This video was supported by Western Riverina Arts and Create NSW through funding from the NSW Government.

Kerri Weymouth profile

 

Kerri Weymouth discusses her contribution to the Ngurambang (Our Riverina) exhibition at Griffith Regional Art Gallery from 1 July to 20 August 2023. 

This video was supported by Western Riverina Arts and Create NSW through funding from the NSW Government.

The crater in my soul

One of the questions the film Oppenheimer avoids is whether it was a war crime for the US to drop atomic bombs on domestic targets

George Orwell wrote that  "history is written by the winners" and few people question whether the end of the war justified the use of a devastating weapon like the atomic bomb.

I've been reflecting on that question during the anniversary of that watershed moment.

One of the most profound spiritual experiences during my visits to the Quaker Meeting House in Canberra was when an American woman felt moved to speak about the bombings. 

She was in tears as she announced her feeling of guilt for being from that country.

It would've been about 30 years ago now and in my memory it is when I recognised how the spirit moves one to testify in that setting. 

That day was tempered with an observation by the late Hector Kinloch, who stood in meeting to ask if anyone had seen the beautiful rainbow that appeared during the week.

Increasingly I find a spiritual gap in my life and wonder whether I should return to prayer with the Quakers.

Robocopolis

By christhebarker

Right of initiation

This detail from Christopher Orchard’s ‘Mirrul’ artworks has been on my mind, specifically the removal of front teeth

As I thought about the idea I ran my tongue over those front chompers and reflected on the idea of biting more than one can chew.

This led me to wonder whether intiation for Wiradjuri men was accompanied with a lesson about not being greedy and to think of others when you hunt.

I recognise that knowledge is not my culture to know or share, but I feel like that lesson would be a good one in a world with limited resources. 

Orchard's artwork is currently exhibiting as part of the Ngurambang (Our Riverina) show at Griffith Regional Art Gallery until Sunday 20 August, when there'll be artist talks after 11am.

Christopher Haworth profile

 

Christopher Haworth is a plein-air painter from Talimba who features in the exhibition Ngurambang (Our Riverina) at Griffith Regional Art Gallery. 

This video was supported by Western Riverina Arts and Create NSW through funding from the NSW Government.