Ayob bin Ismail in front of the National Gallery of Victoria
A quick reminder...
Ayob bin Ismail has travelled from Singapore to Ballan, a regional town in Moorabool Shire in Victoria Australia, for a four-week residency and internship. His visit is being generously supported by Nanyang Polytechnic (School of Design), Wombat Regional Arts Network and by Velislav Georgiev and Tor Roxburgh's public art business Zabelski Han and their gallery studio complex Omnibus Art Gallery.
Tuesday 23rd June...
Today was a Melbourne day and we all headed in different directions. Velislav had an appointment in Springvale. Ayob visited RMIT and spent some time with his former lecturers and teachers and then went to see the Dali exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. I took the pottery wheel back to Northcote Pottery and then bought some more halal meat. I think they are getting used to seeing me at Istanbul Halal in Brunswick!
Velislav and I got back to Ballan before Ayob and we picked up a copy of the Moorabool News. Guess who was on the front page? Ayob!!
Ayob bin Ismail on the front page of the Moorabool News
Wednesday 24th June...
Velislav and Ayob installed the hardware on one of the storage seats. I got to be the quality controller... In other words I came along at the last minute and tried everything out: lifting the lid, closing the lid using the safety stays, locking the seat. It all worked beautifully.
One more hardware installation to go and the job will be finished.
Thursday 25th June...
This morning Velislav had the opportunity to discuss the schedule for the installation of The Red Dot at the Moorabool Shire Municipal office. The Shire is ready to install the work, but Ayob is going to fly off to Singapore before the contractors can be called in to do the job. I feel a bit sad that Ayob won't be here to see his work go into the landscape.
In the afternoon, Velislav and Ayob installed the hardware on the second storage seat.
Friday 26th June...
Seat installation day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's always exciting installing finished work. Ayob and Velislav took the storage seats on site and drilled holes into the pavement for the bolts. There was a lot of interest from community members. A group of senior residents from the Ballan aged care facility told Ayob they were looking forward to being able to sit on the seats. Another passer-by told Ayob he had played street chess in Melbourne and overseas and was looking forward to playing in Ballan. Leigh McCallum who is the Shire officer in charge of the streetscape project arrived with the official plaque. Velislav installed the plaque on the end of one of the seats.
Velislav Georgiev closing the lid on the chess pieces while Ayob bin Ismail looks on.
It was great having Ayob's help during installation. It wasn't just that he helped with the physical work; he also answered people's questions about the project. Whenever Velislav installs public furniture or public art there are plenty of community members who come up for a chat. Having someone on site who has time to talk helps the community accept the new element in their local landscape. In Ayob's case there were extra questions about where he was from and what had brought him to Ballan.
Saturday 27th June...
Ayob had the day off and got to catch up with some dear friends who live in Melbourne. It was the first real day of rest he's had since he arrived.
Sunday 28th June...
Another day off. It began with a wonderful goodbye breakfast at Anne Hardwick's house. Anne has owned a number of galleries during her working life and has an interesting art collection. She showed us some works in her collection and some lovely ceramic pieces. Some more friends arrived. Ayob had a chance to say goodbye to Mark Fagan who introduced him to Fagan Fastcam software early on in the residency. Jan Fagan was also present as was Zandie Acton, Hayden Savage and Wendy Grayland.
L-R: Tor Roxburgh, Ayob bin Ismail, Anne Hardwick
In the afternoon, Velislav drove Ayob down to the St Kilda Market for some last minute shopping.
We spent the evening with Anu Patel who is an artist and designer living in Bacchus Marsh, but originally from England. Along with Peter Blizzard and Velislav, Anu is a public artist. We're lucky having three significant public artists living in Moorabool. Anu showed Ayob some of her models and together they looked through images of her work.
Saying goodbye...
It's now two days until Ayob leaves Melbourne. We'll miss him. He's been a wonderful intern and has made significant contributions during his residency to our studio and home. Ayob has a radiant presence and his love of art and design is evident in everything he does. We wish him great success in his career back in Singapore.
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