A VISIT TO THE GOMA AND QLD MUSEUM

Even though Dan and Chloe are not home, Steve and I are using their place as a base this week.  (We have a decent bed if we stay there)..

It was after lunch on the 30th before we got to Sarah's for a visit as I wanted to get our washing and ironing done in the morning....  We suggested to Sarah that we might like to take the children to the GOMA and the Museum the following day and she was pretty keen to join us.

In the end we took the children home with us for a sleepover at Uncle Dan and Aunty Chloe's.  As Macca's is only a couple of blocks from Chloe's that was dinner for the evening....

The following morning, the kids woke up and were eager to go.  They were very well behaved doing everything we asked of them, including getting ready and tidying up their toys.

Sarah arrived in just after 9am.  We then organised our Go Cards as we had decided to catch the train into Southbank.  Max was super excited about doing this...

Sarah had used his back pack to pack the gear she needed for the day and he even wanted to carry this despite the fact that it was way too heavy for him...

Way to heavy for him but he still persisted until we got to the car...

 We decided to drive to Cooparoo Station which was a few blocks away and catch the train from there....

All waiting for the train..

 Max loves trains so was super pleased to be catching it into town.  He also wanted to go on a boat so we must organise to do something with a ferry next time we go to Brissie.

Max and Willow on the train.

Sarah managed a seat to herself....

Steve and I sat opposite the children.

We got off the train in South Brisbane and then walked to the GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art)...

 It has been a couple of the years since we have taken the children here and I noticed that there were a few good exhibitions that we thought the kids would like...
Besides the activities they had for the kids, there were some other great exhibits that we were interested in...
There seemed to be a real theme around marine and the environment this Christmas

We then headed up into the main top floor of the Gallery.  There were some interesting exhibits there.  Willow in particular found them really interesting and we had lots of conversations about some of the things we were seeing...

Riding the escalators up to the top floor...

Very colourful murals....

This one was really interesting... A giant fire pit...

 These next few art exhibits were made from random things you would find around the house or garden but they were definitely arranged in very interesting and thought provoking ways...

 The next room we wandered into had some interesting exhibits also including paint brushes and metronomes

How is this for an artistic statement..

Just a little about the brain....

 From here we wandered into another room with these paintings and mosaics...

 The above piece of art was all mosaics but had such depth to it especially when standing back and looking at it, and it drew us back several times...

They had a special water exhibition on at the GOMA whilst we were there also and these swing rings were in much demand...

 Whilst the others were busy looking at displays,  Max and I checked the skyline of Brissie.
He loved looking out of the big windows and pointing out all the things he could see especially the big cats as they cruised down the river....

Max enjoying the views of the city..

 Before heading down to the children's section we checked out the "White Wash"  and the Indigenous Australian Art exhibits.  I, object’ looks at the many complex relationships Indigenous Australian artists have to objects: from the histories informing their creation, to the social and cultural consequences of their collection.
Many Indigenous people consider their cultural objects akin to family or a part of themselves – a physical, tangible product of their cultural inheritances. Throughout the world many museums hold important Indigenous cultural material. These are considered ancestors by many, and are a great source of pride and inspiration. However, their multi-generational housing in public and private collections, is also a great source of cultural loss and trauma.
In this Brisbane exhibition, view works that celebrate the survival of sculptural traditions, works that witness a revival of regional Queensland mark making traditions that has its roots in collected objects, and works that mourn the loss of cultural strength or life when objects are removed from their origin communities. Together, these works and artists help to reshape the ways we relate to objects and a history of objectification.

 The kids had been really good whilst we looked through these exhibitions so it was time to take them down stairs to see the kids exhibitions...  There are two exhibits for kids at the moment.  The first one we went to was entitled "Below the Tide Line".  This exhibit is presented in conjunction with GOMA’s ‘Water’ exhibition (7 December 2019 – 26 April 2020), 'Below the Tide Line' has been developed in collaboration with Erub Arts, Marion Gaemers and Lynnette Griffiths. In their work the artists create sculptures made out of ghost net as a way to raise awareness about ocean pollution. 'Ghost net' is a term that refers to fishing nets that have been abandoned or lost, causing great harm to marine life. 'Below the Tide Line' features a spectacular artwork display as well as a drawing activity and an interactive screen-based animation exploring ocean conservation issues.  This was such a colourful exhibit and very well done. 

 The kids loved using the interactive screens which gave them lots of information about life on the reef and protecting it...

 They also had some hands on activities for the children to do and Max and Willow got quite involved in doing these activities.  Willow was happy to post her drawings and writings on the board but Max wanted to keep his....

Max and Willow busy writing and drawing....

The next exhibit we went to see was one on "Island Fashion".  Here they could explore fashion and adornment through fun hands-on and multimedia activities created by four artists from Australia and the Pacific.   It was very colourful and the kids loved the hands on activity associated with them..

 Both Max and Willow were keen to do some of the craft and make masks and design their own island fashions..

Sarah and I both designing our Island Fashion

 By the time we finished it the "Island Fashion" it was well and truly lunch time.  We had packed lunch and bought it with us but Steve and Sarah wanted a hot drink, so we found a little restaurant on the river bank, and ordered their drinks and we ate lunch there...

On our way to finding somewhere to eat, the kids were fascinated by an elephant sculpture that was on the river bank, so Steve took them over to have a good look at it....

 Then we had to look for a table so that we could sit and eat our lunch...

nice full lunch box..

Willow enjoying her yogurt

Sarah made me a lovely healthy salad...

Steve enjoying his sandwiches

The birds were pretty cheeky...

 After lunch we decided to go and check out the Museum.  Sarah had taken Max there once before and he had loved it, especially looking at all the stuffed animals and insects.  They also had a special spider exhibition and the kids were fascinated with the entrance to the display as it had a large spider on the wall...

As we headed over to the museum, we saw lot of frilled neck lizards just basking in the sun.  They were very tame and you get right up close to them, so we got a couple of good photos...

 Whilst Steve, Sarah and Willow checked out the gift shop in the museum,  Max wanted to check out the big squid, so I took him for a walk to see it...

 then it was off to see the big spider....

Max was fascinated with some skulls that we walked past so we all stopped and had a look at them all.  They varied in all shapes and sizes..

From here we moved on to look at some of the displays with Australian animals and then moved on to checking out some fossils.

Max was very interested in the "sharp teeth" and wanted to know all about them..

Willow thought this coral looked a bit like a brain...

It was intereting to hear the kids chatter as we looked at the different exhibits at the museum...

 Max was interested to look at all the displays in the drawers too...  Steve was able to show him and talk to him about a lot of the different things he saw...

such a bright green...

I thought these snakes were stuffed until one started to move....
There were heaps of stuffed birds, all shapes and sizes, all colours,  and the kids like seeing these and trying to identify the ones the knew like the parrots and kookaburras etc....

Some of the many stuffed birds in the museum...

I was happy to show the children some of the birds I knew like Major Mitchell Cookatoo..
We went went into the Wild State Exhibits..

The last area the kids wanted to check out was the dinosaur area...

Learning all about the dinosaurs

checking out the big feet...

Steve had bought the children a bug catcher with a magnifying glass when we first got to the museum and they were holding it for us at the shop until we were ready to go... We headed back to pick it up whilst Sarah took the children to the toilet....
I had a good look around, they had lots of interesting things there for children,  lots were educational.  They also had some great books,  some really great ones for Theo too, so we might have to pick up some before we head over to see Theo next...

It was time to leave and head home....
We had all had a great day, although we were pretty tired.  Now to try and keep the kids awake whilst we traveled home...

Queensland Museum...

 We walked back to the South Brisbane train station.  I took a few photos of the murals along the wall leading to the station....

 Ready to catch the train home... Willow is pretty excited to have her own GO card now and proudly shows it off...

 Max carry the present home.....

Steve checking to see when our train will arrive....

7 minutes until the train arrives...

 Finally on the train and heading home....

It's been a great day... We have all enjoyed it and all learnt something new, but boy were we buggered by the end of the day.  More adventures planned for the rest of the week.

Sarah took the kids home as soon as we got back to Chloe's,  it was New Year's Eve and we were joining them a little later in the evening...