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Places and Experiences
Travel insights, cultural observations, and location-based learning
22 posts
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Sydney Ceramics Galleries
There are some excellent galleries in Sydney that focus on displaying the work of local artists and providing exhibition space. A labour of love for most gallery owners as the market is not large.
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Inhabit Movie
Inhabit is a beautifully produced documentary exploring permaculture design across rural, suburban and urban landscapes in North America. A compelling and well-made case that human needs and planetary health need not be in conflict.
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Ceramic Destinations in Tokyo
The most popular post on Slowlane has been Ceramics Destinations in Kyoto, this post seeks to provide the same information for a Tokyo visitor.
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Making and Work
Reflecting on what it means to identify as a Maker — and how the satisfaction found in the workshop with wood and clay becomes harder to locate as professional life shifts toward management. Matt Gemmell's sharp distinction between Makers and Takers provides a useful lens.
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Chinas rising soybean consumption-reshaping-western-agriculture
A disturbing piece by Lester Brown: saving the Amazon rainforest now depends on curbing global demand for soybeans — which means both stabilising population and, for the world's more affluent people, eating significantly less meat.
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Challenges of creating for the web
A pointed comic from The Oatmeal on the realities of making things for the web — the gap between what creators intend and how the work is actually received. Painfully recognisable.
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Ceramics Destinations in Kyoto
A guide to the best ceramics destinations in Kyoto — Kawai Kanjiro's house with its magnificent climbing kiln, the Kyoto Ceramics Centre on Gojo-zaka, the Nomura Art Museum's tea bowl collection, and the Raku Museum. Essential stops for anyone drawn to Japanese pottery and the mingei tradition.
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Off the map
I noticed this post recommending the movie 'Off The Map' recently. We watched it last night and really enjoyed it.
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Fairfield Horseshoe
A long and rewarding day walking the Fairfield Horseshoe in the hills above Ambleside in September 2011 — clear skies and warm temperatures made for exceptional views over the Lake District fells.
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CNN occupy wall street
Douglas Rushkoff argues that Occupy is not a protest but a prototype — a practical experiment in a different way of living. Its lack of demands is precisely the point: it isn't asking anything of the existing system, which is what makes it both unsettling and genuinely new.
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Great bookshops of the world
Fascinating photos of bookshops from around in the world in this article in Salon via Twitter from Mark Bertstein who has been to 3 of them.
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Balehaus - an experimental building
Bath University's Balehaus project uses prefabricated straw-filled wall panels to create a high-performance prototype building — a promising demonstration of locally sourced, low-impact construction materials that raises the question of when such approaches might reach Australia.
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BEN - bicycle empowerment network
Its Blog Action Day - my plug is for BEN the Bicycle Empowerment Network of Namibia. Established by Australian Michael Linke who had previously edited Australian Cyclist.
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Simplicity amongst the weapons
Son of a Lion is a quietly extraordinary film — shot covertly by an Australian filmmaker embedded with a Pashtun community in Pakistan's tribal weapon-making region. The story of a boy who demands an education over his father's trade is touching, authentic and unlike anything else.
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A slow sunday at the art gallery
A Slow Sunday at the Art Gallery of NSW — returning to the Harold Cazneaux exhibition, a remarkable body of pictorial photography that still impresses for its atmospheric use of light and location. Also the Taisho Chic exhibition of Japanese art from the 1920s and 30s.
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The franklin river campaign - 25 years on
A personal account of taking part in the Franklin River campaign — camped in Tasmanian rainforest, arrested on the Crotty Road, briefly held in Risdon maximum security prison. One of the defining experiences of a life, and a reflection on what was won and what was at stake.
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Shakuhachi festival world masters concert
An account of the closing concert of the 5th World Shakuhachi Festival — shakuhachi, koto, shamisen and harp, a mass playing of Temuke, and a performance by Living National Treasure Reibo Aoki whose Ajikan brought a rare stillness to the auditorium.
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Visit to hepburn springs
A few winter days at Hepburn Springs — staying at Shizuka, Australia's only ryokan, eating slow-cooked food at Cliffy's, visiting the Chameleon gallery, and making repeat trips to the Red Beard bakery in Trentham for sourdough from one of the last Scotch ovens in the country.
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Biodynamic wine in the news
Australian biodynamic wine is attracting growing media attention, and the quality is finally being recognised more widely. A roundup of recent coverage, with recommendations for mixed cases from organicwine.com.au including Krinklewood and Tamburlaine.
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A very small farm
William Paul Winchester's A Very Small Farm is a memoir of quietly extraordinary simplicity — life on twenty acres, building house and barn, putting in a garden and orchard, taking up beekeeping. It belongs to the tradition of Thoreau's Walden and rewards return visits over the years.
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Krinklewood biodynamic wine
The Krinklewood vineyard was recently given a positive review in the local media so I thought I would give it a try. We would have gotten around to it anyway as we are very keen on organic and biodynamic wines.
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Australian Organic Wine
Here in Australia we have a vibrant wine industry including an increasing number of vineyards producing organic and/or biodynamic wine. We are especially keen on the wines from Mudgee in central NSW.
