Bundanon
HUW DAVIES GALLERY 26 November –13 December
After an interminably long wait the Bundanon properties and collection were accepted by the Australian Government in March 1993. Arthur and Yvonne Boyd’s wish that Bundanon should become a living arts centre began to take shape. The Bundanon Trust is now a major national arts institution: its Bundanon Artists Centre hosts an important and diverse residency program for Australian and international artists; the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre at Riversdale is the focus for a full school visits program and both properties are venues for an impressive program of arts events.
In the years I was involved with Bundanon my photographs were mainly for brochures and annual reports. I took family photographs in the year we lived there but seldom took out my camera to respond to Bundanon’s landscapes, their majesty and mystery, in the way Arthur Boyd and so many others have done in paint and other art forms.
Fortunately the PhotoAccess group that visited Bundanon and Riversdale in July did take the time to respond creatively to the place. This exhibition is only one of the many good outcomes from a very enjoyable weekend away. We were lucky enough to get one of the few slots left for the year in the Education Centre designed by Glenn Murcutt, Wendy Lewin and Reg Lark, itself an internationally recognised work of art.
The group started at Riversdale on Friday afternoon with a low light portraiture workshop by Ed Whalan. Susan Henderson’s three beautiful portraits—including 'Tara' reproduced here—and Richard Scherer’s 'Jocelyn' (also included in the catalogue) were made at the workshop. On Saturday we visited Bundanon, including the heritage listed homestead built by Dr Kenneth McKenzie in 1886, Arthur Boyd’s studio, the Amphitheatre and the Shoalhaven River. All provided exceptional opportunities for making photographs. Ed conducted a panorama workshop on Saturday night where his outstanding 'Group portrait panorama' (reproduced in two parts here) was made. Tony Stewart, our board chair, was mysteriously absent when the panorama was photographed.
Bundanon staff helped to make our visit special and we acknowledge their generosity. Information about Bundanon and its programs is at www.bundanon.com.au.
Barbie Robinson coordinated the visit and this Huw Davies Gallery exhibition, the first coming out of a regular program of weekends away. The second weekend away will be a visit to Thredbo in March 2010.
David Chalker
