Hi everyone

I understand that some of you are feeling a bit worried about sitting underneath the Neil Dawson cube scuplture that hangs above the desk in the Central Library. I’ve talked to Lydia about it and she has spoken to Plant & Infrastructure staff. I hope the following will allay your concerns:

The sculpture has been checked after both the September and February earthquakes and it is not at any risk of falling. It is well secured by three heavy gauge nylon cords, each of which can sustain up to 68 kg breaking strain. The work is bolted to the wooden ceiling panels and has a swivel attachment at the sculpture connection point. Additionally, a safety ring loops through the corner of the sculpture and into each cord. The work would fall only if the swivel and safety loop both failed or all three cords failed and this is incredibly unlikely. Lydia would also like to reassure you that the art work is surprisingly light and would not in actuality cause great harm in the unlikely event it detached. It is made of aluminium mesh and weighs a mere 1.5 kg.

FYI – Public sculpture in Christchurch by Neil Dawson that you may recognise include the Chalice in Cathedral Square which is shaped like an inverted conical spire, to reflect the Cathedral and Echo hanging above buildings in the Art Centre which literally draws its surroundings in metal rod. For more information on Lit LeWitt click on the link: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/sculpture/artists/neil_dawson.shtml

From Ferns in Wellington’s Civic Square and Chalice in Christchurch’s Cathedral Square, to Raindrops in Manchester, United Kingdom, and the Globe in Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Christchurch sculptor Neil Dawson is recognised internationally for his spatial celebrations that are at once accessible and challenging.

If you have any questions or concerns about art around campus please feel free to contact Lydia (the UoC art curator)

I hope this is reassuring.

Jill

There is quite a bit of mail accumulating in the MB Library. It is outside my office and spreading…I have tried to sort it into relevant piles, so please be sure to check when you are over here – there might be something for you!

Jill

If there are any spare blue transit bags lurking out there can you please send a couple over to MB-I’ve just used the last one we have here…

Many thanks

Jill

The Macmillan Brown Library is closing at 4:30 this Friday ( 29 October) in order to hastily prepare the Reading Room area for the first of the month long events celebrating the 75th anniversary of John Macmillan Brown’s bequest to the University. Friday’s event is to formally acknowledge the recent donation of JMB’s own Venetian Grotto Chair to the University and features a floor talk by the postgraduate Art History student Bryany Joslen, who is just completing her internship with the Library. See Bryany’s research at: http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/mb/art/mbchair.shtml

It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce that we have a new Curator of Art. Lydia Baxendell will take up her appointment on Monday 12 July. Lydia is a Canterbury graduate with a wealth of experience in the Arts. Her most recent position has been as Gallery Manager at Gallery Thirty Three in Wanaka, a role she has held since 2007.

I am looking forward to introducing Lydia to you all over the next few weeks. Roll on Monday the 12th!!

Jill

Kia ora koutou

Danielle O’Halloran, who has worked in MB since July 2007, is leaving the Library to work with the Pacific Development Team as an Academic Advisor. Danielle’s last day in the Library is Friday 25 June.

Gwen Parsons who currently works Wednesday to Friday inclusive, is taking six month’s leave to write a book based on her PhD thesis. Gwen’s last day with the Library for 2010 is Wednesday, 1 July.

Obviously, both Danielle and Gwen are going to be sorely missed. However, they are both going off to do work they are really motivated by and I have no doubt they will be extremely successful. We will still see Danielle around campus and her new position can only strengthen the connections we already have with the Maori and Pacific Development Centre teams. Obviously we are expecting a gratis copy of any book Gwen produces…

Good luck and best wishes Danielle and Gwen!

Jill

Mia Lillian Pope (7lb 6oz)was born on Sunday afternoon. Catherine, Nick and big brother Braden all well!

Last month at the 4th General Meeting of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Committee for the Asia Pacific region (MOWCAP) in Macau, The Tokyo War Crimes Collection, donated to the University in 1949 by the New Zealand Judge on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Justice Erima Harvey Northcroft, was one of 8 new inscriptions added to the Memory of the World Register. For details see:http://www.unesco.mowcap.org/
Australia picked up the certificate on our behalf. The 2 other New Zealand inscriptions on the (International) MOW Register are the Treaty of Waitangi and the Women’s Suffrage Petition, which gives an indication of the significance of this collection to the Asia Pacific region. This collection has ‘lived’ in a number of library locations over the years and is now cared for as part of the documentary archives collection in the Macmillan Brown Library. The inscription on the Memory of the World Register is a real coup for the University and shows we can hold our own in terms of world class collections!

Jill Durney

Next Wednesday, 10 March, is Terri Elder’s last day with the Library. From 4pm onwards we are gathering in Room 208/210 in the MB Centre for Pacific Studies (that’s the room just up the corridor from the Library). This is an open invitation to those of you who would like to come across to join MB staff as we thank Terri for all that she has contributed and wish her well for her new position at the Museum.

Hope to see you here!

Jill

It is with considerable regret that I have to announce that Terri Elder has resigned from her position as Art Curator. Terri is returning to her roots in the museum world, having accepted the position of Curator of Pictorial Collections at the Canterbury Museum. Terri has really made a huge impact in her five years in the Library. She is the consummate professional and her knowledge, expertise and practical ability are quite outstanding. Those professional skills and her thoroughly good humour have made her a great team member and she will be sorely missed by her colleagues in MB and, I have no doubt, the wider university community. Terri’s last day is Wednesday 10 March.

Jill