Bush garden ethos in South Australia

The bush garden ethos in South Australia, notwithstanding the state's dearth of water, poor soils and Mediterranean climate, has been slow in evolving. Even today. the logical Mediterranean philosophical arguments of Trevor Nottle, expressed in Gardens of the Sun,' are passed over in favour of struggling or often over-watered gardens containing ubiquitous 'Iceberg' roses, an eclectic exotic collection of plants, and the odd umbrageous eucalypt.'

Napier Courtyard South Australia

This is the first of several articles on South Australian garden design to prepare for the 27th Annual National Conference in Adelaide from 20th to 22nd October 2006.

Seeing as believing – or is it?

This article explores aspects of the life and art of the Australian artist Arnold Shore, the subject of my recently published book Arnold Shore – Pioneer Modernist, Macmillan Art Publishing, 2009. The pantheon of Australian art history celebrates particular artists and their visual output. These designated artists become the celebrated and orthodox names, who are seen as defining specific cultural and historical moments. Arnold Shore is cursorily acknowledged in many Australian art history accounts, most often for his teaching at the modernist school he co-founded in 1932, The Bell – Shore School. Much about his art and life remains hidden with the National Gallery of Victoria owning thirteen of his works, none of which are on display. Whilst suggesting there are specific reasons for Shore`s place in art history not being fully acknowledged, the article further investigates why some artists are consigned to a peripheral role, only for their significance and importance to be re-discovered at a later date after historical revisionism. Why is this so? Who are the tastemakers and gatekeepers that actively suppress artists stories and their contributions from receiving wider currency? What factors potentially conspire to obscure or push aside one group to the detriment of others? These questions are increasingly prescient in the twenty-first century as globalisation and spectacle capitalism, compete with representative historical perspectives; issues raised in the latter part of the article.