August 2023 | GOST news special
Vienna stories | New paintings | Aug & Sep trading hours
Vienna Stories | A working holiday
In our July news, I wrote a little story about our arrival in Vienna. Its been nearly
6 weeks and teaching has finished. I was an Assistant to Dr Adam Masters who convened the ‘Crime at the scene’ unit for 23 students. Daily briefings began at 9am at the University of Vienna. It’s a grand, old building and feels pretty special upon entering. Think marble, high ceilings and classroom views to Rathaus Vienna Town Hall - built in gothical style.The students were a dream team! They were engaging, curious and kind. Thanks for including and trusting me with their needs. We had many an adventures, stories to tell (well … some will stay in Vienna ;) and great photos capturing a memorable lifetime memory.
In our spare time, Adam and I visited galleries, gardens, parks, museums as well as eating lots of Viennese cuisine, cakes and pastries. We walked so much that had we not … we’d be rolling down the cobbled pavements! I thought I’d write a few notes to accompany the photos and take readers on a vicarious trip through Austria’s pretty city - Vienna.
Universität Wien (University of Vienna) | founded in 1365, it is the oldest and largest university in Europe.
Dutch Botanical Garden | Surrounding the Palmenhaus (greenhouse) in Schonbruun Palace Park is land purchased in 1753 by Emperor Franz I to create a Dutch (later English) style garden. Smitten by the formal design of the garden, I have spent many afternoons drawing the roses and summer blooms.
Sisi’s mystery dress | on instagram I follow Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Director of the Imperial Carriage museum provides a wonderful insight into the facts of determining if the train has found it’s missing dress and if the dress is her wedding gown! I won’t give anything away. Click here for more info.
Demel Wien | okay, so Sachertorte is well known and tourists queue up to visit Café Sacher hoping to get a seat and try the cake. But did you know that Demel Wien also makes sachertorte and a range of divine cakes! Even if you don’t eat cake, simply check out their elaborate window displays and enjoy a a moment of perfection.
Facades & Architecture | There is too many to list. I am floored this city has such a wide variety of era buildings. Art Nouveau, Baroque, Gothic, Secession (Otto Wagner) and so much more! I’ve seen a listing of 60 must see buildings and even if I did one a day I still wouldn’t get through all of them…
Exhibition | Science Fiction (s) at the Weltmuseum. This consisted of different rooms with themes about how artists saw the future. In the words of the Museum, “ … A first room is dedicated to a retrospective of science fiction as a narrative of conquest. With works by indigenous artists from the USA and Canada, the exhibition looks at cultural appropriation in science fiction and how indigenous artists use the movie Star Wars to tell the story of their own conquest … “.
Food | Glorious food as the song goes! Oh! my! I’ve never eaten so much and so well! Let’s just say the range of food here is like travelling the world but in one city. We’ve had Austrian, Korean, Turkish, Mediterranean, and Italian - just to list a few. Not far from where we were staying (Margareten) is a Turkish Bakerei - all I can say is anything pistachio was a hit! I tried different types of Austrian white wine, beer and Hugo’s. The latter a very popular summer G&T. I think the best one I had was a Chilean sparkling our next door neighbors offered. We met a lovely couple who recently moved to Vienna with work and quickly became friends over a common bond of corruption, law, the arts, good wine and beer!
New paintings have landed
We recently received two new paintings from Ngarrindjeri artist Amanda Westley. She’s had a busy 2023 with exhibitions, projects, commissions and workshops. Amanda is about to have major spinal surgery so we wish her all the best for a speedy recovery.
This is the first time we have had these subjects by Amanda which focus on ‘beautiful country’ and ‘Two sisters’. In Amanda’s words:
Katjeri Ruwi (beautiful country) I love my cold swims in the ocean at sunrise … the magic the sky and ocean create … breathtaking … everytime I see that sunrise I think of how beautiful Ngarrindjeri Ruwi is … how much it gives to me … I think of how many sunrises my ancestors would have seen at the same place I swim … it is a reminder of the age of country …. every part of country has meaning, it is familiar, it is loved and it is home.”.
Minmulewar (Two sisters) represents Ngurunderi’s two wives in the Ngurunderi dreaming story who fled over country and Ngurunderi followed … the wives fled along the coast to Cape Jervis and then ran through the shallow water to Kangaroo Island … the water came in and stopping the wives from going any further … they fought the water until they couldn’t swim anymore and drowned … their bodies became the Pages Islands …”.
August & September trading hours
GOST will be closed physically in August and September. The online shop will remain open 24/7. All purchases can be collected from Thursday 5 October when we physically reopen at 11am.
All orders that need to be shipped will commence from 4 October.
If you need your purchases urgently, please contact me by email. Allow up to 24 hours for a response while I’m in a different time zone. I may be able to make arrangements where you collect in person and / or
have it shipped, many thanks Anne.
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