ISLAND CHARACTER
I SHED MY SKIN, A FURNEAUX ISLAND STORY
Jane Giblin
Moonah Arts Centre, 23-27 Albert Rd. Moonah
Until February 1
This is a massive project, even by the standards of output Jane Giblin has already set for herself. Previous shows of hers are often the cream of a dense, energetic level of output — Giblin is a huge proponent of life drawing as an important part of her art practice, and she can, after a huge chunk of long career practising, make a volume of rich images. This staunch work ethic bleeds out into all her work. Giblin is deeply and obsessively involved with the act of doing her art. Her output is physical, as she works with observations of the human body and form a lot, and her work has a sense of being demanding and physical.
I Shed My Skin is clearly demanding in this manner that Giblin has established for herself, but there’s a lot more to it this time. This work is an investigation of Giblin’s family background, a part of her ancestry, and an exploration of her still existing extended family. Giblin’s ancestral past reaches back to the islands that make up the Furneaux Group, into the beautiful, harsh world found there in Bass Strait, and this exhibition is a return to and investigation of, the people that live there and the place.
Giblin clearly spent a lot of time visiting and exploring the islands. She took Tasmanian poet Peter Hay along with her, and he was a fine complement to her work. Hay’s concise and earthy poetry sits well with a selection of Giblin’s lithographic works, making this show an experience with many facets.
An important thing to note about Giblin’s work is that not only does she draw with ink and watercolour, makes lithographic prints, and takes black and white photographs — all these mediums are interwoven. Giblin uses the photography as impetus for her other methods of image making, and her drawings and prints share a sharpness of line that one can see is originating in the demands of the lithographic process and in the rigours of drawing living, breathing people.
This complex output has worked well for Giblin to date, and with I Shed My Skin, she applies everything she has discovered over years of practice to capture and examine the inhabitants of the island world. Giblin has taken her own photographs, but has here also worked with cherished older images of her family — so this work also takes in the idea that people have lived around the Furneaux Islands for generations.
The work hovers between documentary and interpretation. The actual work shows a level of restraint, as it’s clear Giblin wanted to show people as they are, but her strong line — her way of making marks — is still there.
Giblin has to be herself, and balances between truth she has found in her practice and the reality she seeks to share: there’s an exquisite tension at play, and Giblin does not shy away from this. That’s just not who she is. Even when she is restrained and reverential, which she is here, she cannot help but find the raw beating heart of a secret world.
STREET EATS @ FRANKO
Franklin Square, 70 Macquarie St, Hobart Operates every Friday from 4pm-9pm, until April 24
The Street Eats @ Franko night market has become a summer Friday night ritual for many Hobartians. Centrally located in Franklin Square, it’s hard to walk past without giving in to the pull of the aromas coming from the many food stalls that showcase some of the best Tasmanian produce. Live music plays in the background, local beers are on tap and it stays light until after 9pm. This is summer in Hobart at its best.
As the market’s website decrees, “if it’s not produced in Tasmania, you won’t find it at Street Eats @ Franko”, and that’s what makes this night market particularly special. All of the stalls here are dedicated to using Tasmanian produce and this ethos ultimately translates to food that is fresh, seasonal and above all ridiculously tasty – not a limp looking prefrozen spring roll in sight.
By far, the hardest part of going to the market is deciding which stall to buy dinner from. Thankfully, since it’s on every Friday night from December 6 to April 24 there’s plenty of time to do the rounds and try a bit of everything during the warmer months.
My husband makes a beeline for the Indonesian Martabak stall as soon as we arrive. He lived in Indonesia as a child so for him, Indonesian food is like a big dose of nostalgia. Different versions of Martabak can be found all over Asia and the Middle East, all consisting of a flat pancake-like bread stuffed with meat, vegies and egg with spices and other ingredients varying from location to location. The concoction is pan-fried until crispy on the outside resulting in warm, crunchy mouthfuls of goodness. The stall offers traditional, chicken, mushroom, vegan or sweet varieties. We decide on the traditional (that includes egg, vegies and spices). It’s a big hit with our toddler as well as us.
Still munching away on our Martabak, we do a loop to check out the other stalls. The barbecued scallops from the Seafood Barbecue stall catch my eye, as do the nachos from Diemens Grill (add local pulled pork if you wish).
Ultimately though, it’s the Squidlipop from Formosa Bites that lures us in. A whole squid is threaded on to a skewer, coated in satay sauce and sesame and barbecued until slightly charred. The different parts of the squid offer different textures and the sauce is earthy and satisfying.
We also order a Sichuan pork skewer that consists of two pieces of thinly sliced pork wrapped around spring onion that has turned soft and juicy thanks to the barbecue process and served atop a nasturtium leaf. We slide the pork and spring onion off the skewer, wrap with the nasturtium leaf and devour in a few bites. Formosa Bites also does braised wallaby over rice, a wallaby pastry and kombucha.
There are plenty of vegetable rich and vegetarian dishes on offer at the market as well which I always appreciate. We pick up a Plenty Plate from Orlando Plenty that includes housemade falafels, seasonal salads, marinated olives, pickles, herbed tahini and flatbread. There is an option to add grilled haloumi for $3 so I am devastated to learn that my husband ‘forgot’ to do this when he arrives at the table we have managed to nab (who doesn’t add haloumi?!?).
It’s hard to choose our final dish for the evening but we settle on the Grilled Chicken Rice from Kaki Lima Street Food. The chicken is marinated in some secret herbs and spices, pan fried and topped with crispy fried shallots and served with a spicy sambal and colourful garlic crackers. Kaki Lima do traditional
Indonesian street food including Rendang, Nasi Campur and a not so traditional, but insanely good, Mozzarella Stick (mozzarella cheese breaded in panko crumbs, shallow fried and served with sambal and kewpi). Do yourself a favour and try it.
We have barely scratched the surface in terms of sampling the food on offer but it’s obvious that each stall has been carefully