It rained again today in Sydney. Rain is something we don’t cope with all that well, as it usually happens so infrequently. But when it rains, it rains heavily. So despite the stereotypes about Melbourne’s appalling weather, Sydney’s annual average rainfall is almost twice that of Melbourne. In Melbourne they have a lot of rain regularly – okay, maybe not so regularly since the drought – whereas in Sydney, we have lots of sunny days, but heavier rain when it does fall. And in Sydney, we don’t cope very well.
As I travelled to Drummoyne today, the gutters were overflowing, there was some flooding on both the Anzac Bridge and the Iron Cove Bridge, and traffic was brought to a halt. Part of the problem has been the rapid expansion of Sydney along roads which were built around early colonial tracks. But it’s also because the rain comes down in bucket-loads so infrequently that, in between the sunny days, we forget what to do when it rains.
I was in Drummoyne for a meeting of our art group, Hawkesbury One. We’re a group of friends who decided in about 2001 to pool our limited resources to buy art together we could otherwise not afford. We share the works around on a six-month roster, which means you always have something interesting on your wall. Along the way, it’s been a journey of learning more about art, and about collective decision making.
The big point of excitement for us at the moment is a commitment given by the Newcastle Regional Gallery to curate an exhibition of our works over a three month period in 2011. The connection with Newcastle is a strong one for us, with almost everyone in the group having come from Newcastle (or surrounds) or currently living there. So today, there was much to discuss about how we prepare for this exhibition, and in particular, what we do with our collection over the next few years. One of the members of the group is also speaking at a conference soon about what we do, in the hope others might be similarly inspired. As part of this, I’ve put together a “video compile” of three minutes duration to play in the background as she speaks.
A brief catchup with Damo followed the Hawkesbury One meeting.
And now I’m at home getting on with Sunday night domestics. Unfortunately my washing machine is acting up at the moment, so I’m back to hand-washing, hoping that a power-down and re-power in a few days time might resolve the washing machine issue.
“Are You Being Served?” is on Foxtel shortly… so I’d better head off.
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