Early in April we finally got around to visiting the Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling Back to Earth exhibit at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.
Lunch at The Library Cafe before heading into the gallery. While we waited for our food Katelyn indulged in a game of Doodle Jump after convincing me to hand over my iPhone.
The centrepiece of the exhibit is Heritage. 99 replicas of animals from around the world drinking from a clear blue lake and surrounded by pristine white sand. It was breathtakingly beautiful and despite the crowd there was a silence and stillness that created a real sense of calm.
As you enter the exhibit the first thing you see is a magnificent Eucalyptus, complete with it’s root system, suspended on it’s side. The tree was relocated from land being cleared for development. Visitors are invited to think about the things that may have happened to the tree during it’s life and imagine possibilities for it’s future and to draw or write a response to the tree. After some convincing Katelyn was happy to accept the invitation and spent a long time working on her drawing – the tree as a treehouse. She was so focused on her drawing and appeared unaware of the people around her.
We then headed into the final section of the exhibit – Head On. 99 wolves hurling themselves into the air before hitting a glass wall and falling back to earth. We joined many others in walking among the wolves and posing for a few photos with them.
Before leaving we stopped in the interactive children’s section, where Katelyn decided to make an animal, a very cute lion.
Such a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon and so pleased that we made the effort to head to GOMA.
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