By Rama Gaind.
Australian Love Stories exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery: Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown, 2006 (printed 2020). Peter Brew-Bevan.
Australia’s capital – Canberra – is not only leading the way on climate action, but it’s also home to an extensive number of gallery and exhibition spaces.
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise to learn the nation’s capital has been named the world’s most sustainable city, having already achieved 100% renewable electricity. Through investments in the 2020-21 budget, the ACT Government is transitioning to a cleaner future, and says “we are ready to take the next steps to transition to net zero emissions by 2045”. It is an ambitious agenda.
The ACT is the first ‘major’ city outside Europe to transition 100% renewable energy.
Canberra was at the top of a list published by UK comparison company Uswitch. Cities were assessed on a range of sustainability measures including energy, transport infrastructure, affordability, pollution, air quality, carbon dioxide emissions and the percentage of green space in the area.
According to the report, Canberra fared highly in the rankings due to its reliance on renewable energy and its large amounts of green space.
“[Australia’s] capital relies heavily on solar power and nearby wind farms, while also ensuring an incredible 94 per cent of its residents have internet access to make this one connected city,” the report said. “An incredible 86.6 per cent of Canberra’s transport infrastructure is green.”
The Canberra Balloon Spectacular is a wondrous sight.
Canberra took top honours with a score of 427 out of 600 on the sustainable cities report.
While Canberra topped the overall list, it wasn’t the only Australian city to make the cut. Brisbane took out third place, with an overall score of 382.
Sustainability is not just environmental-ism. Simply put, sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In addition to natural resources, we also need social and economic resources.
Art exhibitions
Canberra is the place to be for an aesthete, who loves and appreciates works of art and beautiful things. Australia’s largest inland city is unusual among others because it has been entirely planned. Make a detour from heading out to the usual tourist haunts and visit some blockbuster exhibitions showcasing the works of talented artists and cultural collections. The art lover will be spoiled for choice. Here’s just a small selection:
Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London, at the National Gallery of Australia, continues until 14 June 2021.
Life Through The Lens – Photographic Display at the NFSA, at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, until 30 June 2021.
This Is My Place exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery: Robert Drewe (in the swell) (detail), 2006 by Nicholas Harding.
Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 To Now, at the National Gallery of Australia, ends 4 July 2021.
This Is My Place, National Portrait Gallery, ends 11 July 2021.
A Nation Imagined: The Artists of the Picturesque Atlas, National Library, until 11 July 2021.
Seeing Canberra, Canberra Museum and Gallery, until 17 July 2021.
Australian Love Stories: Reconnect and reflect with a new major exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, ends 1 August 2021.
Mervyn Bishop: Australian Photographer, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, ends 1 August 2021.
Harriet Schwarzrock: Spaces Between Movement and Stillness, National Portrait Gallery, ends 1 August 2021.
Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion, National Museum of Australia, ends
8 August 2021.
Cineclub: The Story of Film, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, until 15 August 2021.
Starstruck: On Location, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, until
9 October 2021.
The Amazing Face exhibition: Ian Thorpe (detail), 2002 by James Houston at The National Portrait Gallery
The Trevor Kennedy Collection: Highlights, National Museum of Australia, ends 10 October 2021.
Behind The Lines 2020: The Year in Political Cartoons, Museum of Australian Democracy, until 15 November 2021.
The Amazing Face, National Portrait Gallery, ends 31 December 2021.
Playup: The Right to Have An Opinion And Be Heard, Museum of Australian Democracy, until 31 December 2021.
Collection Highlights Tour, National Portrait Gallery, until 31 December 2021.
Happy and Glorious, Museum of Australian Democracy, ends 31 December 2021.
When you’ve finished viewing some, if not all the art displays, you will realise that if “simplicity is the glory of expression” then “individuality of expression is the beginning and end of all art”. As American theologian Thomas Merton once said, “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time”.
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