Canberra, Thursday 11 October, 2001

New tourist attraction to open at ANU

A new tourist attraction, an international sculpture park, will open at The Australian National University campus on Sunday. ACT Senator Margaret Reid will officially open the ANU International Sculpture Park at 11am on Sunday 14 October, 2001.A variety of works will be on display at Acton Peninsula (adjacent to the National Museum of Australia).

Two major sculptural works are in place for the opening. Australian artist Christine O'Loughlin, currently resident in Paris, is the 2001 University H.C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellow. Her installation is a series of large scale but operational "Spirit Levels" which are placed on the principal contour lines between Old Canberra House and Lake Burley Griffin. The work is the first commissioned piece for the Park and is a site-specific response to the landscape. Christine was also involved with landscape architect Paul Knox in preparing the initial layout of the International Sculpture Park.

Fiona Foley's installation, "Winged Harvest", is located between Old Canberra House and the Cross Cultural Research Centre's new building, and acknowledges the original indigenous people on the site with its reference to significant dates, bogong moths and native grasses.

Preparations are underway for Djon Mundine and Fiona Foley's collaborative installation, "Ngaraka: Shrine for the Lost Koori". Other sculptures are being proposed involving the ANU's Canberra School of Art visiting artists program, assisted by overseas governments and private sponsors.

Professor David Williams, Director School of art said. "With its emphasis on environmentally sensitive pieces by major Australian and international artists, the ANU International Sculpture Park compliments other sculpture initiatives in Canberra and the National Gallery of Australia. The presence of the artists on campus while they create their work also provides a dynamic learning and participatory environment for School of Art students and the University community."

What: Official opening of the Australian National University International Sculpture Park
Where: Acton Peninsula, Lennox crossing, ANU (adjacent to the National Museum of Australia)
When: 11am, Sunday October 14, 2001

For more information contact:
Professor David Williams, Director Canberra School of Art 02 6125 5805
Nancy Sever, Director, ANU Drill Hall Gallery 02 6125 2366
Merryn Gates Curator, Gallery, Canberra School of Art 02 6125 5841
or Clarissa Thorpe, Media Liaison Officer, on 02 6125 5575 (w), 0416 249 245 (m)

No: 88/2001

© 2000 Marketing & Communications Division,
The Australian National University.
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Last Modified Tue, July 16, 2002