tiabunna's photos

This old dry stone wall goes back to the early days of settlement in Tasmania. This kind of fencing is found in only a few parts of Australia. HFF!

The stone bridge across the Coal River at Richmond, Tasmania, has the distinction of being Australia's oldest bridge, being built by convicts. Work on it commenced in 1823 and the sandstone for its construction was moved to the site in handcarts. That's a goose, to the right of the rowing boats: Tasmania has no foxes and domestic geese now are living in the wild. Recent heavy rains had muddied the river. SMC Pentax M 1:1.4 50mm 'Explored' on 20 December 2013

The British colony at "Hobart Town" was established in Van Diemen's Land as a convict penal station in 1803. Among the remnants of Hobart's convict era 'Female Factory', the "supervisor" gives a warning to a "newly arrived female convict" on the penalties which may apply if she causes any offence or breaks any rules. These are, of course, two actors giving a very impressive information session to a group of tourists. Little more than the outside walls remain of the original structure. Over 6000 transported convict women (the list is incomplete) found themselves incarcerated in Hobart's "Female Factory", either on arrival by ship, or between work placements. It operated from 1828 to 1856, at which time it became a jail before being mostly demolished after closing in 1877. Several smaller ones operated in country centres. These essentially were "workhouses" crossed with rather nasty prisons. You can read more about it here: www.femaleconvicts.org.au/index.php/convict-institutions/female-factories/cascades-ff

Apart from being a macro shot of a flower, I'll have to leave the ID to you: at a guess it's possibly a Hebe. Seen in Hobart.

It's yours, when you own MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). :)

In an earlier shot (see note) I explained the unique Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) alongside the Derwent River estuary in Hobart. This 2007 full size 'concrete truck' sculpture in laser-cut steel is by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye and is on the roof level of MONA (from which entry is by lift to down near water level). The surrounding fences are in treated steel, matching the truck. Happy Fence Friday!

With an earlier shot (see note) I outlined what makes the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) so unique in Australia. MONA also differs from almost every other Australian museum and gallery by allowing photography (no flash though). Marvellous! The lady in red is examining what was probably my favourite piece, the "Berlin Buddha". This is a two-part artwork, the nearer component being a very substantial aluminium and steel mould to create the second half facing the camera: a large Buddha (the head apparently came off when cast) made by Zhang Huan from over eight tonnes of incense ash collected from shrines in Shanghai. It is called the Berlin Buddha because a version was first made in Berlin in 2007. The casting reflects Buddhist teachings about life and death, from existence to nothingness - and (intentionally) is slowly crumbling away, as seen by the surrounding ring of ash on the floor (see the inset note). Best viewed on black (press 'Z').

In my previous image (see note) I gave some indication of what MONA is about, and how it is possible to store and retrieve online a record of one's visit and what was seen. This photo was taken from immediately below the previous image, at the lower level, and gives more of a view of the trampoline and bell. I have retrieved the following information on this artwork from my MONA virtual tour record: Danser la musique 2000–9 Chen Zhen. Installation of steel, iron, nylon, hemp, cannon shells, bullet shells, Buddhist bells, edition 1/3 Courtesy of Galerie Guy Bärtschi, Geneva Born 1955, Shanghai, China; emigrated in 1986 to Paris, France; died 2000 in Paris So feel free to virtually leap on the trampoline and make the bell ring. :)

Hobart in Tasmania features a quite unique privately owned museum and gallery called MONA, the "Museum of Old and New Art". Housed in a remarkable purpose-built building, you will find mainly avant-garde art (in some surprising forms) alongside Greek antiquities and Egyptian sarcophagi. The building is built alongside the Derwent estuary, nestled into a hillside cutting in natural sandstone (seen here) which becomes a feature wall. Entry is from the top, via a lift to begin the visit at the lower level. There are no signs or explanatory notes, instead visitors are given electronic devices which are activated by proximity sensors to show what is nearby and all the relevant details. Should you choose to provide your email address, the details of your visit are recorded and an internet link provided by email enables you to recreate your visit at leisure through an interactive site! Back to this shot. Apart from the wall, the fenced item at lower left is best described as an 'adult trampoline', whereby jumping on it rings one of several large bronze bells. I did say 'avant-garde'! If you've a little time, the website for MONA is www.mona.net.au