Almanac Life: Ballarat … This Is Where Wind Starts!

 

 

When I told a good mate of mine Scott, of our decision to move to Ballarat a year ago he told a funny story of his first winter experience visiting ‘The Rat’ a few years back.

 

He had to catch up with a Ballarat-based work colleague and arrived early one July morning. As he alighted from the car to greet his friend, he was nearly blown over by Arctic wind that went in one side of his body and exited the other. His Melbourne ‘woollies’ stood no chance.

 

His friend greeted him calmly with, “Welcome to Ballarat…this is where wind starts.”

 

I love the understatement of that phrase, as if the origins of a global, primary meteorological condition have their roots in a Victorian country town.

 

Having said that. He’s not far off the mark. We have had a pretty mild winter versus what we expected this year, but if you’re Victorian I’m sure you’re aware of the gusts that have occurred this past fortnight.

 

Those winds in Ballarat are exacerbated by the chill, creating the need to get indoors.

 

The local wind reminds me of a really bad day at Point Gellibrand, Williamstown where I’ve seen footballs kicked with maximum velocity, suddenly boomerang backwards when they reach the open air.

 

The chill reminds me of Canberra so when you combine the two, you suddenly gain an endearing appreciation for polar explorers.

 

 

Blatant segway warning!

 

One of the best spots to escape the weather is The Art Gallery of Ballarat. We first experienced the gallery when visiting from Melbourne to see The Foto Biennale and another fantastic festival, The Day of the Dead, a Mexican celebration of Halloween.

 

The gallery was built in 1884 and has two levels. The lower level is used for visiting exhibitions and currently there is a tribute to the architecture of Palm Springs called Lost in Palm Springs and an incredibly creative showing of Indonesian contemporary art called Ebb and Flow. I particularly loved this installation of kids being gangsters on a home-made raft.

 

 

 

 

Upstairs has more space for rotating exhibitions but is mainly permanent works donated to the gallery. Here is a collection of some of my favourites.

 

 

 

 

If you’ve visited Ballarat’s Botanical Gardens you will remember the Prime Ministers Avenue with busts of all our past Prime Ministers. In 2022 the environmental activists ROUSER placed this bust of Scomo reflecting his love of coal, in the gardens. “This is coal. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared. It won’t hurt you.” The piece is called ‘CoalMo’ by Louise Pratt, 2022. To this day there is still no authorised bust of Scomo in Prime Minister’s Avenue.

 

 

 

 

I first fell in love with the late Howard Arkley’s paintings at a 2006 retrospective at the NGV. I just admire how he turned the ordinary into extraordinary. You don’t see a lot of his work in galleries as they are mostly in private collections. His depictions of houses in Melbourne’s suburbs are so unique.

 

 

 

 

There is an entire room dedicated to work from the 1800’s and one painting in particular from Thomas Flintoff in 1887 always gets mentioned by visitors to the gallery. ‘Henry Stone and his Durham Ox’ was once described by a primary school visitor to the gallery as a ”cow that swallowed a fridge.”

 

Possibly my favourite painting comes from a Warrnambool-based artist Glenn Morgan called ‘Global Warning’ from 2011. It takes up an entire wall and explores the themes of drought, fire, flood and extreme weather events. It contains both humour and tragedy using interactions between the community figures via speech bubbles telling the stories. An awesome piece of work that reveals new things each time you see it.

 

 

 

 

Here are some other gems from the permanent collection.There is always plenty on at the gallery and October sees an exciting exhibition paying tribute to the guitar.

 

 

 

 

 

More from Ian Wilson can be read Here.

 

 

To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au  home page click HERE

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

 

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE