Time flies: the Auckland Art Gallery!

Time flies, moving around as always to make life more interesting!

Here a mix of photos from the refurbished Auckland Art Gallery

Since the gallery has reopened the doors in early September so many people have gone to visit this new amazing place, therefore if you have occasion, go and visit the gallery!

You can find a very big variety of artworks.....

A presto!

Rugby World Cup 2011: Auckland and New Zealand

A Haka in Auckland!

                                                   

Auckland is a wonderful city and a fantastic place to live, there are galleries, museums, shopping and much much more....but this year there is the Rugby World Cup 2011. It started yesterday in Auckland, the opening ceremony was wonderful and obviously the All Black have won the match against Tonga.

Tomorrow the Italian team will play vs Wallabies (Australia) in Albany on the North Shore at 3.30pm, New Zealand time! Many matches will be in Auckland, but others around New Zealand, so wherever you are be a supporter.....

Now for me...which team I should support?

A presto!

Simona

Where is your home? Do you know?

Where is home?

When you have moved around for a long time you don't really know where your home is....
or maybe you have doubts! What do you think?

Maybe at certain point of your life you have to go back where you belong.....

This time in Dunedin: I walked around the city until I had to leave

Dunedin is a very vibrant and cultured city with a rich heritage and a strong emphasis on education and the arts. The city is very compact with some of the main sites at a walking distance, such as the Town Hall and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery on the Octagon.

City Hall

a shoot from the Octagon

a particular of the gallery facade

some historical building

Window's particular

the gallery's entrance

Dunedin's Railway Station

 The Dunedin Railway Station is the most photographed building in New Zealand, certainly I can say one of the most beautiful and certainly the front cover of many books published on New Zealand.

onside the station

Shops have their own character too and you enjoy to walk around 

 When it was time to leave on Sunday afternoon the weather had changed again, it was raining, therefore the departure was a bit more difficult...

on the plane

landscape shoot before the departure

nevertheless I could make a nice shoot of the beautiful landscape....it is so beautiful down there, but it is a bit too cold for me....

I will go back there again one day!

This time in Dunedin: I ate the Pavlova (Part 1)

Pavlova with an espresso at the Octagon

During my last visit to Dunedin I have finally ate a Pavlova. There is not certainty about the origin of the cake: is it an aussie or a kiwi cake? I am not sure about that, nevertheless I have really enjoyed that with a friend of mine, who has never eaten that before and she was pleasantly surprised.


I have found out that the dessert was actually named after Anna Pavlova, a famous Russian ballerina, who toured world with her company most of her life, reaching Australia and New Zealand in early 1910s and late 1920s.


This is one of the many versions of the Pavlova recipe:


ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 250g castor sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon corn flour
• 3 tablespoons of water
• Pinch of cream tartar

Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff and then add the water. Continue to beat and then add the sugar and carry on until it is dissolved. This process will take approximately 15 minutes. Fold in the corn flour and the rest of the ingredients. Heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Place the mixture on aluminum foil which you have previously sprinkled with some corn flour. Turn the oven down to 100 degrees C. Lay the mixture on a six inches diameter surface. Cook for about 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave until cold.  Decorate the top with whipped cream and kiwifruit or strawberries before serving. Enjoy!!

The fleeing Caravaggio: a paper for Dunedin

Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

1608
Oil on canvas, 361 x 520 cm
Saint John Museum, La Valletta

Last week the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (2-5 February 2011) has organized a conference in Dunedin at the University of Otago, where I have happily participated with a panel entitled: Artists and Travel.  

Who better than Caravaggio? He fled to Naples and then to Malta, in order to escape decapitation following his conviction for the murder of Ranuccio Tomassoni. Hoping in the Pope's forgiveness, he departed from the conventions of his time to paint works evoking acts of clemency to receive the permission of the Pope to come back to Rome. 

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist is a clear example of Caravaggio's changes, almost a testimonial to his own destiny: his death! 


To know more about the other papers presented at the conference, 
this is the link: 
anzamems 2011 conference

When in Auckland

A view from the other side of the bridge by Simona Albanese

I spent quite a long time in Auckland. Here I met many lovely people, I taught Italian and art history courses, plus I have presented quite a few lectures at the Auckland Art Gallery, which possesses several Italian artworks. (that was back in 2007!!)

As many big cities around the world, Auckland has all of the large-scale attractions you would expect: museums, galleries, zoos and family amusement parks. 

It is amazing how you travel and you see beautiful things everywhere!!!

If you want to know what happen in Auckland have a look to the link below:

Auckland  

                                                                                                                          SkyWatch Friday

Dunedin Public Art Gallery (lecture in August)

Dunedin is a lovely city at the bottom of New Zealand.
it is really cold in the winter and just there I am going in August to present a lecture on the Beloved Art..... there they have got significant Italian artworks!!!

Have a look to the site:
http://dunedin.art.museum/events.asp


Railway Station


This is me in 2007 when I have presented another lecture at the gallery


..inside the phone box while my dad toke a picture!!!

For more information about the city have a look to the Dunedin site:
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/