JOAN CAMPBELL ART FOR NEW FREMANTLE LIBRARY

Two large ceramic murals by the late Joan Campbell MBE (1925–1997) have found a new home in the Fremantle Library courtyards at the new Walyalup Civic Centre. 

Titled Inland and Coastal Plain, the raku fired clay tile murals were inspired by a flight over the Purnululu range in the Kimberley. 

The perspective shows the journey from the desert landscape to the green of the coastal plain. 

The works have a special connection to Fremantle, with Joan Campbell a prominent Australian artist who had her studio at the Old Kerosene Store (now Kidogo Arthouse) at Bathers Beach for over 20 years.  

Some of Joan Campbell’s other works include the 1833 Shoreline artwork that maps the original shoreline of Fremantle starting at the Fremantle Train Station and finishing outside the Esplanade Hotel. People can walk this path following the blue etched brick line, highlighted with bright blue ceramic bollards at each end.

Another work is the 1994 Old Jetty Replica artwork on Bathers Beach, which is a replica of a section of the Old Jetty before the Fremantle Harbour was built. 

The murals valued at $70,000 were housed in the foyer of Lotteries House in Osborne Park and were offered to the City when Lotterywest moved to their new building.

The large-scale murals measure 1640mm by 4910mm and are prominently displayed in the two courtyards of the new Fremantle Library at the Walyalup Civic Centre, which is set to open in mid-November.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE POTTER SHOWS ZAMBIAN BEAUTY

Fremantle potter Njalikwa Zongwe, who owns the Zinongo Gallery on Lefroy Street, is having an exhibition at Gallows Gallery in Glyde Street, Mosman Park. It opens tomorrow, Thursday July 3 at 6.30 pm.

To do research for this show Njalikwa went back to his birth country Zambia and workshopped with his native Ngoni tribe.

If you refuse to go north of the mighty Swan river, check out the Zinongo Gallery in Lefroy Street. It’s just up from Hampton Road.

Roel Loopers

GREAT CROWD TO CELEBRATE THE LATE JOAN CAMPBELL

A large number of people attended the unveiling of the Joan Campbell memorial at Kidogo Arthouse on Bathers Beach by Professor Ted Snell. Many members of the Fremantle Historical Society and Fremantle Society were there and the who is who of Fremantle were there in droves, including Labor MP Melissa Parke, Mayor Brad Pettitt, councillors Robert Fittock, Dough Thompson, Andrew Sullivan. Of course the arts community also showed their appreciation of Joan. I noticed Tony Jones, Olga Cironis, Lyn DiCiero, Njalikwa Chongwe, Jacqui Rodrigues, Jenny Dawson, Peter Zuvela, Joanna Robinson, and many others in the crowd.

I hope the doco shown at the ceremony will be put on the internet so more people can enjoy a glimpse of Joan’s life.

Coincidentally there was also a very good article on the life of Melissa Parke in the Sunday Times magazine that is well worth reading in light of the September federal election.

Roel Loopers