So after a very long 23 hour flight, I arrived back at T5 early this morning to a very cold London, something I had forgotten as although the weather in Australia wasn't always brilliant sunshine, it was warm indeed! There is much to tell as I recall my trip, so much happened with the time just flying by as I flew in and out of 3 cities for work and pleasure. So first stop, Brisbane. I arrived to sunny skies in the early morning and spent a few days seeing friends and family, visiting the wonderful Surfers Paradise (just like I remembered 20 years ago) but much more built up and taking in the sights, which of course include the famous Crab sandwiches at The Spits. The city itself is relatively small with only 2 million people, as you take a City Cat at dusk along the river, amazing views await you as you wind along the water underneath the wonderful Storey Bridge into the Southbank for dinner.
Then onto work, with a great talk at The Queensland Centre of Photography, which is a brilliant space in the centre of Brisbane with the wonderful Maurice and crew who made for a very relaxed and welcoming venue for my first talk in Australia. I would like to thank everyone who assisted with the organisation and all who came to the event, it was great to spend sometime meeting you all, and I will be sure to return soon! If you haven't seen QCP, take a look, as they have some interesting things planned and have a great collection of books. You can see more here: http://www.qcp.org.au/
With only a few days in Brisbane, much like my entire trip, it was important to get as much packed in very day as possible, also thus helping with the jet lag! So back into the city to spend sometime at the galleries and especially GOMA, Queensland's Centre of Modern Art. The building itself is incredible with hugh glass windows facing onto the River, letting that Queensland light pour in, (which if you haven't been is something quite extraordinary) its so bright even in full cloud! As I wondered around the rooms there was much on show, including the install of Cai Quo-Qiang's new exhibition, which sadly opened on the 23rd, which I missed. If you are around, you must make a trip, it looked very special from what I was witnessing of the install. A few artists worth mentioning are Latifa Echakhch, Lee Mingwei, Robert MacPherson and Gordon Bennett. Echakhch's piece above on the left, was a truly brilliant installation of paint and alcohol, which spilled onto the ground, filled with poetry and memorialism of lives lost, completely moving and stunning. So with little time left, it was off to the airport for my next leg, Sydney for 1 day then, then onto Melbourne.
