Category Archives: SPECIAL TOPICS

Church of St. Matthias (Tumauini, Isabela)

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Church of St. Matthias

The notable, Roman Catholic Church of St. Matthias (Spanish: Iglesia Parroquial de San Matías), within the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilagan, is the best-preserved church complex in Isabela.  Known for its brick, Baroque-style architecture, it is considered to be the best and most artistic brick structure in the country.

The church complex

Tumauini became a separate parish independent from Cabagan  in 1751. Dedicated to Saint Matthias, it was first built in nipa and other light materials by Dominican Fr. Francisco Nunez in 1707.

Historical plaque installed by the National Historical Institute (NHI) in 1989

In 1733, it was rebuilt by Dominican Fr. Domingo Forto who hired artisans from as far south as Pampanga. It was continued in 1788 by Fr. Antonio Herrera and was completed in 1805.

The celebrated circular bell tower

During the Second World War, the church was damaged by American bombing but a faithful reconstruction program followed, with undamaged parts of the church building retained.

Buttresses supporting the side of the church

On February 24, 1989, it was made a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. The church is now listed by the National Museum of the Philippines as a National Cultural Treasure.

A buttress with steps integrated into it for servicing the roof

Since 2006, together with the churches of Patrocinio de María in Boljoon, Cebu; La Inmaculada Concepción in Guiuan, Samar; San Pedro Ápostol in Loboc, Bohol and San Isidro Labrador in Lazi, Siquijor, the Tumauini Church has been considered for the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List under the collective group of Baroque Churches of the Philippines (Extension).

Paired Corinthian columns at the facade

This foremost example of ecclesiastical ultra-Baroque architecture in the country is unique for its extensive use of different types of baked red clay brick both for its delicate wall finishing and ornamentation.

Finials crowning the wavy silhouette of the facade

Since stones of good quality couldn’t be found in the area, bricks were used instead and artisans from Pampanga were hired to craft the wooden moldings for the clay inset of the bricks for the façade. Each brick was numbered in the design.

Niche with a statue of a headless saint

Its architecture bears Chinese influence. The façade,  flanked by two pseudo-Corinthian columns and niches (one located above the entrance and the two remaining larger niches on each side of the columns), has a circular pediment that is unique relative to all other churches built during the Spanish Era.

A rather unusual “3” molding

The church’s ornately designed clay bricks were individually designed, prepared, fired, customized to fit the wall, and numbered and dated for the correct sequence respectively for construction purposes.

Bas relief of flowers

They come to life in concentric circles with spiral curves on the finials crowning the wavy silhouette of the facade whose centerpiece is a rose window on the circular pediment which is flanked by pinnacled steps terminating into a coil.

Bas relief of St. Andrew

Serpentine reliefs and many finely molded details: flowers, foliage, wheels, ovules, hearts, sunbursts, squares and circles, oblongs and rectangles, curlicues; three long garlands, vegetal forms, clam shells, also adorn the facade.

Bas relief of a sunburst

Bas relief of a wheel

Statued niches of saints (one headless) also flank the semicircular, richly-molded arched doorway.   

Bas relief of a headless cherub

There are also eight pilasters; six mini reliefs of saints and cherubim (one cherub defaced). At the end walls is a rather unusual “3” molding.

Bas relief of flowers

The adjoining unique, four-storey, unique cylindrical bell tower, built in 1805, is the only known Spanish colonial era cylindrical tower in the country.

Bas relief of garlands decorating the perimeter of the circular tower

The tiered belfry notably resembles a wedding cake.  Its bell has bullet holes but was never recast.

The church interior

Its interior has no retablo (altar backpiece), just a simple altar under an ornate, white dome and the Crucified Lord against the brick wall.

The retablo-less main altar

Also inside are 24 symmetrically arranged, Neo-Corinthian faux columns and ten arched windows with white-green-yellow stained-glass panes adorned with yellow and blue clam shells and red crosses.

Symmetrically arranged Neo-Corinthian faux columns

The ruins of the church’s convento (clergy house), located on the gospel side of the church, has a vaulted ceiling that still has impressions of the mats used in construction as forms to mold wet plaster.

The front garden has a low, undulating brick wall.

Part of the undulating, low brick wall

Church of St. Matthias: National Highway, Brgy. Annafunan, Tumauini 3325, Isabela.  Mobile number: (0927) 791-5490.  Feast of St. Mathias: May 14.

Isabela Provincial Tourism Office: Provincial Capitol Complex, City of Ilagan, Isabela. Tel: (078) 323-3146.  Mobile number: (0917) 317-3820.  E-mail: isabelatourismoffice@gmail.com.

Isabela Provincial Information Office: Provincial Capitol Complex, City of Ilagan, Isabela. Tel: (078) 323-0248.  Mobile number: (0927) 395-7555.  E-mail: letters_info@yahoo.com.

How to Get There: Tumauini is located 451.1 kms. (a 9-hour drive) from Manila and 38.6 kms. (a 1-hour drive) northwest of Ilagan  City.

The Giant Butaka (City of Ilagan, Isabela)

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Giant Butaka

After our visit to the Ilagan Japanese Tunnel, we made a stopover, for supplies, at a pretty Bonifacio Park in Ilagan City.  Here, it brought me face to face with the pride of Isabela and Ilagan’s winning bid for Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest armchair, locally known as butaka. The butaka is a chair with a long arm rest which is not used for the arms but for the legs.

Check out “Ilagan Japanese Tunnel“

The “lazy chair” of rich families, during Spanish era, it was used by hacienderos as their resting chair after a busy day of roaming around their lands and rice fields.  Also known as the “little hospital,” pregnant women also gave birth to their newborn child on a butaka, with their legs comforted by its long armrests.

The giant butaka, christened as the “Butaka ni Goliath,” measured 11.4 ft. high, 20.8 ft. long, 9.7 ft. wide and weighed 2,368 kgs.  It was made from a total of 1,184.48 board ft. of seasoned, first-class narra with a seat made with 1,740 ft. of interwoven 1-in. diameter rattan.  During my visit, the wood varnish has now faded and the rattan weave was in dire need of repair or replacement.

Unveiled for public viewing last April 23, 2003 (in time for Isabela’s 147th founding anniversary on May 11) at the Provincial Capitol’s Rizal Park, it was constructed by 12 to 50 skilled craftsmen of Brgy. Alinguigan II (touted to be the “furniture capital” of the Cagayan Valley, about 95% of Alinguigan residents being furniture makers) in 29 days, working on it daily, even on weekends, from 2 to 10 PM.

The project, to promote Isabela’s furniture industry, reportedly cost about PhP175,000 and, for the manufacture of the giant butaka, the big furniture entrepreneurs in the village contributed at least PhP500 each while small ones chipped in PhP200 each. The rest of the expenses were shouldered by the municipal government, led by Mayor Delfinito Albano.

The author with the giant butaka in the background

Initially, the barangay thought of making a big rocking chair but the Mayor Albano suggested to just make an armchair.  A rocking chair is also locally called a butaka. The rocking chair only evolved from the early butaka early Ilagueños crafted about a century ago. During assembly, at least 15 Ilagueños were needed to carry the chair’s feet and arms.  A boost to the local tourism industry, it gave tourists another reason to visit and explore this vast Cagayan Valley province.

Historical plaque

Giant Butaka: Ilagan Rotunda (the junction going to Cagayan), Bonifacio Park, Brgy. Alinguigan, Maharlika Highway (beside Bonifacio Park), City of Ilagan, Isabela.

Isabela Provincial Tourism Office: Provincial Capitol Complex, City of Ilagan, Isabela. Tel: (078) 323-3146.  Mobile number: (0917) 317-3820.  E-mail: isabelatourismoffice@gmail.com.

Isabela Provincial Information Office: Provincial Capitol Complex, City of Ilagan, Isabela. Tel: (078) 323-0248.  Mobile number: (0927) 395-7555.  E-mail: letters_info@yahoo.com.

How to Get There: The City of Ilagan is located 429.3 kms. (an 8-hour drive) from Manila and 35.5 kms. (a 1-hour drive) from Cauayan City.

Bamboo Organ Museum (Las Pinas City, Metro Manila)

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The old convent housing the Bamboo Organ Museum

Just before Christmas Eve, Jandy and I picked up Vicky Dionela, my wife’s balikbayan first cousin at my brother-in-law Mark’s residence in Citadella Village (Las Pinas City) to tour her around Manila before she returns to Vienna (Austria).  I decided to bring them to the nearby Church of St. Joseph, home of the world-famous Bamboo Organ.  This would be my second visit (the first was in February 2005) and the first for Jandy and Vicky.

Check out “Church of St. Joseph”

L-R: the author, Vicky and Jandy posing beside the old church bell

After our arrival, we decided to first visit the Bamboo Organ Museum situated within the old Spanish convent beside the church. Welcoming us at the main entrance is the huge original church bell with its wooden yoke (or headstock).  The bell’s inscription reads “Siendo Cura-del Pueblo de Las Peñas el M.R.P. Padre Diego Cera se Fundio este equilon ano de 1820.” During the time of Fr. Diego Cera, the name of the town was “Las Peñas” until it was changed to “Las Piñas.”

Our BOFI Lady guide explaining the history of the church and the Bamboo Organ

After paying the admission fee, we were assigned a lady BOFI (Bamboo Organ Foundation, Inc.) tourist assistant.  She narrated to us the humble beginnings of the church, how it was built and the important contributions on how it came to its present existence. She also narrated how Padre Diego Cera made the organ, how it was retrofitted in Germany, and finally its reinstallation at the church.

Check out “Bamboo Organ”

Artifacts from the Bamboo Oragan – old keyboard, metal and bamboo pipes

During our tour, we also learned that Spanish Augustinian Recollect missionary St. Ezequiel Moreno was once a parish priest in Las Piñas (from July 1876 to mid-1879). Now the patron saint of cancer patients, he was canonized by St. Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1992.

Posing beside an old chair of the parish priest and a bust of St. Ezequiel Moreno

Inside the museum, we also enjoyed a comprehensive series of displays of religious artifacts, busts, priestly chairs, and the original parts of the organ (keyboard, the manually-operated giant bellows used to supply air to the organ; metal and old broken bamboo and pipes; etc.). There’s also a mini mock-up of the bamboo organ (also made of bamboo) which we can actually play.  Our lady guide patiently explained to us its inner workings.

The old manually-operated bellows

Hanging on the walls are old photographs relating to the famed Bamboo Organ and the church, showing the various stages of the church as time passed, as well as posters (declaration of the Bamboo Organ as a National Cultural Treasure, first Bamboo Organ Festival on Mar 6-11, 1976, etc.) and paintings.

Vicky playing a mock up of the Bamboo Organ

We then went up an old stone staircase to the choir loft of the church where we saw the highlight of our tour – the world famous and majestic Bamboo Organ itself.

Jandy ascending the stone stairs up to the choir loft

I’ve never seen the Bamboo Organ this close and I was surprised that there are a lot more pipes at its back than what’s seen from ground level.

Posing at the choir loft with the Bamboo Organ in the background

After our guided tour of the museum, we toured the rest of the church before buying some souvenirs at the souvenir shop.

Bamboo Organ Museum: Padre Diego Cera Hall, St. Joseph Parish Church Compound, Diego Cera Ave., Brgy. Daniel Fajardo, Poblacion, Las Piñas City. Open Tuesdays – Sundays, 8 AM – 12 noon and 2 – 6 PM. Admission: PhP100 (adults), PhP50.00 (children).  Admission includes a postcard, brochure and a guided tour. Tel: (02) 8825-7190 and (02) 8820-0795. Email: bambooorganfoundation@gmail.com. Website:  bambooorgan.org/museum.

How to Get There: From the Star Mall in Alabang (formerly Metropolis), board a jeepney bound for Zapota Bayan and ask the driver to drop you off at the ‘Bamboo Organ.’ From Alabang, the church is on your left side.

Bamboo Organ (Las Pinas City, Metro Manila)

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The Bamboo Oran

The centerpiece of the Church of St. Joseph in Las Pinas City is the famous Bamboo Organ and it is with this obra maestra (masterpiece) that  Augustinian Recollect Fr. Diego Cera de la Virgen del Carmen, resident  Catholic parish priest (its first) in Las Piñas from 1795 to 1830, was to gain undying fame as an organ builder.  A native of Spain, this organist and organ builder was a gifted man, a natural scientist, chemist, architect and community leader.

Check out “Church of St. Joseph“

Church of St. Joseph

So unique is this church organ made with bamboo, the tallest grass in the world (only the trumpet stops are made of metal), that it was even mentioned by Robert L. Ripley (of Ripley’s Believe It or Not fame) in his book on “Great and Strange Works of Man.”  The choice of Bambusa sp. (Gramineane), identified to be indigenous to Batangas and the Luzon area, was probably both practical and aesthetic as bamboo was abundant and used for hundreds of items of both a practical and an artistic nature. The Bamboo Organ is described, by many international organ masters, as one of the finest old organs in the world and its construction, with bamboo, is noted as being one of the major factors that gives it a truly unique and lively sound. 

Fr. Diego Cera

Of the three built, one was intended as a gift for the Queen of Spain.  It never arrived for unascertainable reasons. However, some good came out of it as the Queen donated a church bell, now displayed at the old church convent.  The second was installed in the Capuchin Church of San Nicholas in Intramuros.  One of the 33 stops of this organ was made of bamboo.  The organ was, however, heavily damaged in 1898 and completely destroyed by fire during the American liberation in 1945.

The third and only existing one left was started in 1816 (while the church was still under construction) and completed in 1824.   With the help of the Las Piñas community, Fr. Cera started cutting the bamboo in 1816, selecting 950 pieces of different sizes and volumes.  These he buried in beach sand from six months to a year, curing them with salt water, thereby protecting them from wood-boring termites.  In 1817, Fr. Cera unearthed the bamboo pieces.

Together with the natives (whom he trained prior to the gathering of materials), he proceeded with the construction of the organ. At first, he attempted to use bamboo for 122 pipes but this experiment failed and, eventually, the bamboo pipes were used as ornamental pipes located at the rear side. Secretly working with Swiss chemist Jacques E. Brandenberger (who was employed by Blanchisserie et Teinturerie de Thaonbut, the cellophane inventor for the air bags to be used in the construction but without the trumpet stops), the organ was already playable in 1821. After Fr. Cera decided to make the trumpets using metal (musical characteristics of which he could not replicate with bamboo), the organ was finally completed in 1824.

The old keyboard, metal and bamboo pipes of the Bamboo Organ, now on display at the Bamboo Organ Museum

The finished product was 6.7 m. high, 4.17 m. wide, 1.45 m. deep and weighed 3.5 tons.  From its 1,031 pipes emanate dulcet tones.  There are 902 pipes made of bamboo consisting of 747 “speaking” pipes, 36 “blind” flue pipes and 119 “blind” reed pipes. The 129 metal trumpets, horizontally placed reeds of soft metal imported from Mexico, are composed of 112 metal pipes, 10 “speaking” reed pipes and 7 others for the “bird” stop.   The five-octave keyboard has 23 stops arranged in vertical rows and a full pedalboard.

Despite its single manual and small pedals, the organ has an unusually high tonal range.  Its special birdstop tube (pajarito) was, to quote, “designed to imitate the song of birds when a small quantity of water was poured therein.”  The tambor tube, on the other hand, gives out the boom of a kettle drum.  The organ was originally powered by a windmill.  However, an electric blower, installed in 1932 (the centennial of Fr. Cera’s death) by Fr. Paul Hubaux, is now used.

The old manually-operated bellows of the Bamboo Organ (now at the Bamboo Organ Museum)

Over the years, natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods took their toll on the Bamboo Organ. Major repairs were undertaken in 1863, 1867 and 1872. The July 14, 18 and 20 earthquake of 1880 and the October 1882 typhoon  destroyed the galvanized roofing of the church, causing rain and stones to fall on the then disassembled organ, rendering it unplayable for several years.

In February 1883, through the combined contributions of the government, town residents and the Archbishop, repairs on the organ, costing a total of 270 pesos were carried out.  In 1888, Fr. Saturio Albeniz headed the project of improving the organ.  However, it was not fully completed, further degrading the condition of the organ. In 1891, the organ was repaired once again but, during the Philippine Revolution, the pipes were then dismantled and kept in the old sacristy.

The author (left) with son Jandy and cousin Vicky beside the Bamboo Organ

Around 1909, there was an attempt to sell the organ and replace it with a harmonium.  It was aborted when a certain Kapitan Pedro opposed this and offered to pay the expenses of the organ.  Unfortunately, only two stops were repaired.  In 1911, the organ was rediscovered by tourists and reassembled.  Several concerted efforts were also made to save the organ.  In 1917, the organ was in such a bad state that only two stops were working.

Fr. Victor Faniel (term: 1915–1920), of the C.I.C.M. (Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) or Belgian Fathers, attempted to restore the organ but could not repair the bellows.   In order to solicit voluntary contributions for the repair of the organ, Fr. Faniel authored and published Historical Facts, a pamphlet featuring substantial historical data about the bamboo organ.

The bellows currently used by the Bamboo Organ

In 1917, the organ was reassembled by the Las Piñeros but the repair works were not conducted in an expert manner. In April 1932, Fr. Paul Hubaux, C.I.C.M., saw the difficulty of pumping air and physically manipulating the bellows  so he installed a one-horse power Wagner electric motor in order for the bamboo organ “to be heard again in full and sufficient volume.”

In 1943, during the Japanese Occupation, it was partially repaired and overhauled by two technicians, Carmelo and Jose Loinaz.  However, the lack of expertise did little to improve its condition.  Some of the repairs that were intended to preserve, actually almost destroyed it.

In 1960, German Ambassador to the Philippines H.E. Friedrich von Fürstenberg, offered a donation worth 150,000 DM. However, the restoration work needed be done in Germany. The restoration project was temporarily shelved because of the risks of transporting the organ from Manila to Germany and back.  However, by 1962, the organ was in such a bad state that only one-fifth was working as there were many leakages in the air supply.  All horizontal trumpets were disconnected and the same was true for all the base pipes.  Only three stops out of the 23 were working and some disconnected pipes were piled inside the organ.

The organ’s cornet

In 1962, the Historical Conservation Society offered its services to restore the organ, in anticipation of the second centennial anniversary of Las Piñas. A total of Php 4,975.00 was donated for the instrument alone. However, insufficient funds only allowed partial repair works by Mr. Jose Loinaz. An organ builder, Fr. Hermann Schablitzki, S.V.D., also attempted to conduct repair works to the bamboo organ. The condition of the bamboo organ reached its “terminal stage” – disconnected horizontal trumpets and bass pipes, three functional stops out of twenty-three, leakage of air from the chest, and piling of disconnected pipes inside the bamboo organ. Only 1/3 of the Bamboo Organ was functioning during that time.

In the early 1970s, Belgian Rev. Fr. Mark Lesage (C.I.C.M. parish priest in June 1969) and assistant parish priest Fr. Leo Renier (who happened to be a musician and organist) set out consulting with several authorities on the bamboo organ. Mr. Jose Loinaz and Fr. Schablitzki strongly suggested a total repair. On the other hand, Fr. John van der Steen, C.I.C.M., echoed the need for total restoration. Lesage and Ranier, as well as the townspeople, decided on the total rehabilitation of the dying organ and the implementation of the restoration work was firmed up.

On December 2, 1972, during the inauguration of the Las Piñas Church, Mr. Johannes Klais the expert organ restorer scion of the organ builder firm of Johannes Klais Orgelbau, visited, personally inspected and assessed the Bamboo Organ which he had heard about when he was still a child. With a rich and extensive experience in the restoration of Spanish organs, he expressed his desire to help.  He remarked that the organ could still be repaired, but only in the Klais factory in Bonn, Germany. The crucial and sensitive work was awarded to the firm.

In March 1973, two technicians of the Klais firm, Joseph Tramnitz and Joseph Pick, arrived at Las Piñas and dismantled the bamboo organ. Due to concerns about shrinkage in the cold German climate, the repair of the bamboo pipes was done in Japan under Mr. Tsuda, also trained by Mr. Klais himself. The other parts of the organ were crated and shipped to Germany. On September 1973, upon its repair, the bamboo pipes were also shipped to Germany and installed in the “Klimakammer,” a special room built in the factory with the same Philippine humidity and temperature to prevent shrinkage of the bamboo.

On February 1974, actual repairs were started.  Klais enlarged the original plan of Fr. Cera and the old bellows of the organ were replaced. At present, the new bellows were located at one side of the choir loft and beside the belfry.  Parts that could not be used anymore were replaced with very durable wood.  Only the best materials were used.  Mr. Klais also trained Mr. Marciano Jacela, a Filipino scholar of the Carl Duisberg Foundation, on how to take care of the organ in the future in case any repair was needed.  Mr. Jacela also actively participated in the difficult and complicated restoration work.

During all that time, the 200,000 German Deutchmarks (PhP460,000 at that time) needed (excluding transportation, tickets for technicians and other expenses) for the organ repair was  raised from various sources. In the true bayanihan spirit, money for the organ repair, as well as church renovation, came in with the help of the Las Piñas community and the neighboring area, coming in the form of donations from businessmen as well as coins from schoolchildren.

On February 17, 1975, the Bamboo Organ, now with 89 completely new pipes (35 were trumpet pipes and 53 were bamboo pipes) was presented to guests invited by Mr. Mauro Calingo, the Philippine ambassador, at a one-hour concert held at the Philippine Embassy at Bonn, Germany, with world-renowned organist Wolfgang Oehms (organist of the Trier Cathedral in Germany) playing the Bamboo Organ. After that historic event, the launching of the first long-playing album of the bamboo organ was released.

On March 16, accompanied by Mr. Marciano Jacela (responsible for reassembling the bamboo organ), Robert Coyuito (then President of the Pioneer Insurance Companies who donated the insurance premium for the bamboo organ) and German technician Ulrich Bisacker, a dozen crates containing all the parts of the restored Bamboo Organ were finally returned, via Sabena Airlines,  to a joyous welcome here after an absence of almost two years.   A joint motorcade and foot parade was held the next day.  The organ was finally reassembled on March 17.  A month later, Klais arrived in Manila to a hero’s welcome.

For around thirty years, minor repairs and improvements were performed on the instrument under the general restoration conducted by Klais Orgelbau.  In 1990, Helmut Allgaeuer Orgelbau replaced the bone plates of the keyboard and, in 1993, Helmut’s apprentices Cealwyn Tagle and the late Edgar Montiano, both members of the Las Piñas Boys Choir turned organ builders and trained in Grunbach, Austria,  took over the maintenance of the instrument, doing minor jobs on broken trackers, hairline cracks, and keyboard adjustments.

On November 24, 2003, the Bamboo Organ was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines. In 2004, the Las Pinas-based company, Diego Cera Organ Builders Inc. (considered as the first Filipino pipe organ building company, it was founded by Tagle and Montiano In March 1994), carried out a general overhaul of the Bamboo Organ, replacing some leather parts and making improvements in the wind system, particularly the re-installation of a multi-fold parallel bellows which was patterned after the bellows of the Baclayon (Bohol) pipe organ, which is believed to be constructed by Fr. Diego Cera.

Through this organ-building priest’s genius, plus the dedication of Klais and the untiring efforts of the Las Piñas community, then and now, the legacy of this centuries-old National Treasure has been preserved, continually bringing unique angelic music from the earthly bamboo. Today, the famous organ, as well as the church museum at the old convent house, is a popular tourist destination for Filipinos and foreign visitors alike in Las Piñas.

Check out “Bamboo Organ Museum”

The organ is now the cornerstone of the International Bamboo Organ music festival.  First held from March 6 – 11, 1976, the inaugural concert featured Wolfgang Oehms complemented by the Las Piñas Boys’ Choir, the Cultural Center of the Philippines Orchestra (under the baton of Maestro Luis C. Valencia) and the Maharlika Rondalla. Oehms played standard European compositions and two Filipino works – excerpts from Misang Pilipino by former dean of Philippine Women’s University College of Music, Lucrecia R. Kasilag (who later became a National Artist for Music in 1989) and commissioned Parangal by organ, rondalla, brass, woodwind and percussion conducted by Prof. Alfredo S. Buenaventura, the composer himself.

Now the longest-running annual international music festival held in the country, the festival is a series of cultural performances centered on the unique Bamboo Organ.  The  classical music compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 to 1750), Giovanni Gabrielli (1557 to 1612), Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 to 1809), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 to 1791), Antonio Vivaldi (1675 to 1741) and other famous composers are performed by local and international artists, orchestras and choirs (notably the Las Pinas Boy’s Choir) with the accompaniment of this famous organ. Since 1992, Prof. Armando Salarza has been the titular organist of the Bamboo Organ as well as the Artistic Director of the International Bamboo Organ Festival

Bamboo Organ: St. Joseph Church, Diego Cera Ave., Brgy. Daniel Fajardo, Poblacion,  Las Piñas City. Tel: (02) 8825-7190 and (02) 8820-0795. Email: bambooorganfoundation@gmail.com. Website:  bambooorgan.org/museum.

How to Get There: From the Star Mall in Alabang (formerly Metropolis), board a jeepney bound for Zapota Bayan and ask the driver to drop you off at the ‘Bamboo Organ.’ From Alabang, the church is on your left side.

Hosier Lane (Melbourne, Australia)

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The narrow, cobblestoned Hosier Lane

We were now on our last day in Melbourne and they say you shouldn’t leave the city without taking the time to explore at least one of the city’s laneways and street art in Melbourne, a defining characteristic of the city, is celebrated here and its urban art scene is known across the globe.

Another view of Hosier Lane. Bar Tini on the left

Melbourne, the cultural capital of Australia and one of the great street art capitals, oozes art out of its pores. Just by walking its many alleyways, one would be shocked by the amount of incredible, constantly changing street art, with layers and layers of spray paint on every surface – walls, dumpsters, pipes, windows and the street below.

L-R: Jandy, Grace, Kyle and the author

Union Lane, ACDC Lane (immortalizing Australian kings of rock), Degrave Street and Croft Alley in Chinatown are some of the few lanes that are full of colorful works but the city’s most popular laneway is Hosier Lane and this we explored. A much celebrated landmark mainly due to its sophisticated urban art, it showcases the best graffiti and street art talent in the city.

Check out “Melbourne Chinatown“

Street mural of Andrew Gibbons, a Melbourne-based independent artist

This sloping alley, set with rough bluestone paving stones, is the epicenter of Melbourne’s street art scene, containing the area’s densest collection of spray-painted masterpieces.

Declared a “graffiti tolerance zone” by the city council, it has been well-known for the quality and the often political nature of its street art and graffiti created by local and international artists alike.  In Melbourne, street art is legal with the proper written permission from the building owner.  In a heritage control area, a planning permit may also be required for a property.

The city is home to some of the best graffiti artists in the world and their creativity is abundantly on display on Hosier Lane. Over the years, layer upon layer of spray paint and other mixed-media have been sprayed on every inch of the walls of the street and its side alleys.

From Hosier Lane’s cobbled length, we joined camera-wielding crowds and wannabe Instagram models posing in front of edgy graffiti, stencils, paste-ups, murals and art installations, taking in the dizzying array of colors, characters and shapes.  Others watch these from the comfort of the window seats at Bar Tini.

The art’s subject matter, running to the mostly political and counter-cultural, is spiced with irreverent humor. Due to the dynamic nature of street art, this pedestrian laneway, covered from beginning to end, with not a single square foot left untouched, is constantly changing and no two visits will be the same. Even if I wasn’t a fan of the graffiti movement, Hosier Lane was still a site to behold. Too bad we didn’t get to witness a street artist in action.

Previously, Hosier Lane has been fairly empty of private enterprise, its e main tenant being the Youth Project (which provides crucial services for the disadvantaged).

The rear entrance of Culture Kings. The flanking murals were later replaced by a commissioned Lizzo mural

However, Culture Kings, the monolithic clothing chain, has opened its second entrance (rear) along this iconic lane. Critics now fear commercialization of street art itself with an increase in corporate-funded artworks, stunts, and installations, which includes murals-as-ads.

NOTES:

On the evening (7:30 PM) of February 8, 2020 (Saturday), just a little over three months after our visit, a group of mask-wearing artists, in a coordinated project, almost completely hosed down Hosier Lane in an attempt to combat what some see as the commodification of public space, particularly a place that is important to the street art scene.

Some of the murals affected include the commissioned promotional mural art of Lizzo on the Culture Kings storefront and the mural of comedian Celeste Barber (painted in the wake of her massive bush fire fundraising efforts last month). Aside from the promotional art on the Culture Kings storefront, the lane has also seen ads for the Melbourne Football Club and UFC matches pop up recently, among other things.

The protesters used paint-filled fire extinguishers to coat the various murals lining the walls of the laneway. About a quarter of the street art was ruined. Clean up crews used high pressured hoses to remove the paint that settled on the laneway’s cobblestones.

 

The author

How to Get There: Hosier Lane, located near the city center, lies opposite the entrance to the Atrium at Federation Square on Flinders Street, a prominent position in the city. The nearest stations to Hosier Lane areSt. Paul’s Cathedral/Flinders Street (Melbourne City), a 117-m. (2-min.) walk away; 6-Russell Street/Flinders Street (Melbourne City), a 178-m. (3-min.) walk away; and Collins Street/Russell Street (Melbourne City), a 193-m. (3-min.) walk away.

Immigration Museum (Melbourne, Australia)

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Immigration Museum

This museum, founded in 1998, is a division of Museums Victoria which administers the cultural and scientific collections of the State of Victoria.  Its sister museums are Melbourne Museum (including the Royal Exhibition Building) and Scienceworks Museum. The museum’s two floors house temporary and permanent exhibitions. Primarily displaying Australia‘s immigration history, it is located on  in the grand Old Customs House building which originally looked out onto ships tied up at the adjacent Queen’s Wharf.

Check out “Melbourne Museum” and “Royal Exhibition Building“

The building’s Renaissance Revival facade

The 3-storey former Customs House Building, resting on a bluestone foundation, occupies the site of Fawkner’s Hotel, one of the first buildings in the city, built in 1835 by John Pascoe Fawkner, one of the founders of Melbourne.

It is of architectural significance as an example of the work of three of the Victorian Public Works Department‘s most talented and accomplished architects – Scottish immigrant Peter Kerr, who did the initial design, and Arthur E. Johnson and John G. Clark, who prepared the final design, which incorporated the earlier building (but without the projected grand stairs and classical portico).

Historical plaque

Between 1856-58 and 1873-76, it was constructed in two separate stages.  In 1965, the building was converted to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices and, in 1998, became an immigration museum. On September 8, 1994, it was included Victorian Heritage Register.

Jandy, Grace, Kyle, Cheska and Bryan at the steps leading to the museum entrance

One of the finest examples of a customs house in Victoria, it is an extraordinary example of the Italian Renaissance style (with remnants of Greek Revival influence), a style greatly favored for official buildings in Melbourne during the 1860s and 1870s. It has a rusticated ground floor facade while the two upper floors are surmounted by a simple projecting cornice running around the whole building.

Reception counter

A flight of stairs leads up to the entrance doors, above which four Ionic-style columns run through the two upper floors in support of the fascia and cornice. The site is delineated by a fine wrought iron fence with bluestone posts and base.

Second floor lobby

The impressive and opulent former Long Room, one of the grandest and most elegantly proportioned classical interiors in Melbourne, now houses the main exhibition space of the Immigration Museum.  A notable piece of Renaissance Revival architecture, it features giant Ionic colonnades (modeled after the Erechtheion Temple in Athens) and high ceilings.  The hand-laid tessellated tiles, based on fragments of encaustic tile found in floor fill, were made at Stoke-on-Trent in the UK.

The Long Room

The museum facilities and activities include a Discovery Center, community gallery, touring exhibitions and public and educational programs, including community festivals, exhibitions and many community engagement activities.

The museum’s permanent exhibitions explores Victoria’s immigration history through global motivations for leaving homeland, personal stories of immigrants from various countries and time periods, the ship journey over time, and a history of Australia’s immigration policies and processes.

On display are hundreds of objects from the Museum’s collections, some developed through partnerships with families and communities, relating to migration, cultural diversity, transport technology, customs and quarantine, and popular culture. All these subjects are presented in a number of ways – object and image-based displays, audio-visual presentations, immersive experiences (such as a series of recreated ship environments), interactive theater, on-site computer information outlets and the Museum website.

The Migration collection includes over 6,000 objects which document the migration experiences of Victorians since the 1830s and, consequently, the long history of the cultural diversity of the Victorian and broader Australian population.

“Leaving Home” Exhibit

The “Leaving Home” Exhibition, using sound, objects, still and moving images, explores the reasons why people left their countries to come to Australia and what they brought with them. Some of the many reasons include fleeing from the ravages of war, hunger, religious persecution and political repressions while others were lured by a sense of adventure, by the prospect of a new beginning, of owning land, of making a fortune, or to be reunited with love ones.

Many arrive with keepsakes, precious reminders of loved ones or special places. The experiences of arriving in a new country vary from person to person, with stories that are sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always engaging.

“Identity Yours, Mine, Ours” Exhibit

The “Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours” (What does it mean to belong and not belong in Australia?) Exhibition explores how our cultural heritage, languages, beliefs, and family connections influenced our self-perceptions and our perceptions of other people – perceptions that can lead to discovery, confusion, prejudice and understanding.

Visitors are invited to find connections with others, as well as challenge the assumptions we make about each other every day through engaging personal stories, intriguing objects, compelling images and interactive multimedia experiences.  Visitors are also encouraged to share their stories, affirm their identities and celebrate diversity in our community.

“Getting In” Exhibit

The “Getting In” Exhibition, showing how and why Australia’s immigration policies have changed, focuses on four periods – the Gold Rush Days of the 1840s to 1900; Federation to the end of the Second World War;  Post-War to the Early Seventies, and 1973 to the Present Day.  Since 1788, more than 9 million people have migrated to Australia while countless others have tried and failed.

Since the 1800s, various immigration policies have dictated who gets in and photographs, historical objects and personal stories show the effects of these policies on cultural diversity in Victoria. An interactive theater experience, central to the exhibition, finds visitors find themselves in the role of a government official charged with the responsibility of interviewing people applying to migrate to Australia, and discovering whether or not they “get in.”

Customs Gallery

The Customs Gallery shows the story of Customs House, where officials controlled what-and who-could enter Victoria. Customs officers collected import duties, inspected ships for smuggled goods, controlled immigration to Victoria, and prevented the importation of items such as illegal drugs, endangered and contaminated animal products, and banned books and films.

Discovery Center

The Discovery Center, set in the beautifully restored 19th century vaults of the Customs House, is a perfect place to relax in comfy lounges; talk to helpful staff; research family history; explore Australia’s migration history; share personal stories; research contemporary issues; and understand its culturally diverse community.

You can a book from its unique reference library, explore its collections and vast web resources online, or enjoy the screen lounge showcasing stories of cultural celebrations.

“Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Marks”

During our visit, the temporary exhibition Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Marks was ongoing.  It features a suite of exhibitions and experiences that explores the art of tattoo, alongside themes of identity, self-expression, culture and community.

Check out “Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Marks” Exhibition“

Museum Shop

The Immigration Museum Shop offers a wide range of souvenirs, gifts and books while its Museum Café offers coffee, soft drinks, snacks, confectionery and more.

Tribute Garden

The Tribute Garden, located in the northern garden of the museum, is a public artwork that pays tribute to 7,000 people who have made the journey to Victoria.  It features the names of immigrants who came from over 90 countries, from the 1800s to the present day.  The region now known as Victoria is represented by the people of the Kulin Nation as traditional owners of the land, and records the names of languages and dialects spoken by Aboriginal communities. Launched in 1998 and concluded in 2002, Melbourne-based artist Evangelos Sakaris designed the original artwork while Gina Batsakis led the design for the following stages of the project.

The Atrium

The Atrium, a beautiful glass conservatory at the rear of Old Customs House, connects the main building to the Courtyard. It can accommodate long-table dinners running the entire length of the Atrium, or layout more intimate round tables throughout. Sliding double doors open from the glass-walled Atrium into the sun-drenched Festival Courtyard which is utilized to host community festivals which are an amalgamation of food, music and culture.  The wide hallway connecting the Atrium to the rest of the museum is home to changing feature exhibitions, usually hanging art that tells a story.

Festival Courtyard

Immigration Museum: 400-424 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000.  Tel: 1311 02.  E-mail: mvbookings@museum.vic.gov.au. Website: www.museumsvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/. Open daily, 10 AM – 5 PM (closed Christmas Day and Good Friday). Admission: adults ($15), children (free).  Entry to the Tribute Garden is free.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Lorne (Australia)

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The seaside town of Lorne and its surfing beach

During our 1 hour 10-min. (57.3 km.) drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to the picturesque seafood village of Apollo Bay from the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, we made a short nature call stopover at the seaside town of Lorne, a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road (it extended to this town in 1922).

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Memorial Arch“

This quintessential holiday retreat, attracting visitors for more than a century, has a relaxed Mediterranean feel, mild weather, charming picture-postcard scenery and beautiful Art Deco architecture.  Tall old gum trees line its hilly streets.

From the roadside, we had a panoramic view the 2-km. long, sheltered Lorne surf beach, the only patrolled beach in town, and bathers here were cooling off in the sparkling waters of picturesque Loutit Bay. On the foreshore, residents were picnicking under the trees.   At the pier, people fish for barracuda, whiting and trevally.

Great Pacific Hotel : home of one of the town’s two pubs

A tourist town, Lorne’s main shopping strip is filled with a large number of boutiques and clothing stores, boutique gift stores, cellars, restaurants (serving freshly caught seafood), sidewalk cafes and some art galleries/craft shops.

The foreshore

During the first weekend of January, the town hosts the 1.2 km Pier to Pub swim, described in the Guinness Book of Records as “the largest organized ocean swim in the world” with over 20,000 spectators.

The author, Jandy, Grace and Kyle

How to Get There: Lorne is located 140 kms. (a 2-hour drive) south of Melbourne. From Melbourne, daily coach services are available or rail/coach services via Geelong.

St. Paul’s Cathedral (Melbourne, Australia)

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St. Paul’s Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne (who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria and, since June 28, 2014, the present seat of the Primate of Australia).

The cathedral’s Gothic transitional facade

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the cathedral:

  • The cathedral was designed by the English architect William Butterfield, known for his distinctive interpretation of the Gothic Revival.
  • It is one of Melbourne’s major architectural landmarks.
  • To fit the block, the cathedral was orientated in line with the central city grid, just off the north-south axis, rather than facing east, the traditional direction.
  • The location for the cathedral marks the place of the first public Christian service in Melbourne was conducted, by Dr. Alexander Thomson, in 1835.
  • In contrast to the bluestone Gothic of St Patrick’s Roman Catholic cathedral, on the eastern hill of the city, as well as other grand 19th century public buildings faced in light grey sandstone imported from other states, the cathedral’s interior stonework is  a mixture of sandstone from the Barrabool Hills and Waurn Ponds limestone, with contrasting stripes of Victorian bluestone, that gives the cathedral a warm coloring. Also, because the spires are built from Sydney sandstone and are 40 years newer, they are different and darker in color than the older parts of the building.
  • Once the Moorhouse Spire, the central spire, was completed to its full height of 95 m. (312 ft.), St Paul’s became the tallest structure in central Melbourne. With the retail heart height limit of 40 m., it has retained its dominance of the immediate area, dominating the city’s skyline when viewed from the south. For nearly 40 years, even without the spires, the cathedral presented a rather solid, horizontal mass.
  • From the southern approaches to the city, St. Paul’s Cathedral occupies a prominent and dominating location at the center of Melbourne, being situated diagonally opposite Flinders Street station (the hub of 19th-century Melbourne and an important transport center) and, immediately to its south, Federation Square (the new public heart of Melbourne). Continuing south down Swanston Street is Princes Bridge, which crosses the Yarra River, leading to St Kilda Road.
  • Besides Sunday and weekday Eucharists, the cathedral maintains the English tradition of a daily choral Evensong, being the only Australian Anglican cathedral to do so.
  • Its 2009 restoration project was acknowledged by the Australian Institute of Architects, the Victorian Chapter Heritage Architecture Award 2009 and the Lachlan Macquarie National Award for Heritage Architecture 2009.

Check out “Federation Square,” “Flinders Street Station” and “St. Patrick’s Cathedral”

Nighttime view of the cathedral

The awe-inspiring St. Paul’s Cathedral, planned in a traditional Latin cross, has a long nave, side aisles, short transepts, a tower at the crossing, with choir below, sanctuary and altar beyond, and a pair of towers framing the ceremonial main entrance.

Heritage Council of Victoria Plaques

The cathedral’s Gothic transitional architecture combines Early English and Decorative Gothic styles. Highlights include the fine polychromatic brickwork, beautifully patterned floor and wall tiles and mosaics, banded masonry stonework, exquisitely timbered roof and tiled dado walls.

The cathedral’s nave

It has played host to many prime ministers, premiers, governors, governors-general and other significant people; hosted many significant occasions in national, Commonwealth and international history; and continues to be the choice venue for many state funerals.

The north aisle

Here’s the historical timeline of the cathedral:

  • In 1880, the foundation stone was laid by the Governor of Victoria, John, Earl of Hopetoun (later Marquess of Linlithgow), in the presence of the Rt Revd Charles Perry, Bishop of Melbourne.
  • In 1884, Butterfield resigned due to disputes between him and the church authorities in Melbourne. The job was then awarded to a local architect, Joseph Reed (of the Australian firm Reed, Henderson and Smart), who completed the building generally faithfully to Butterfield’s design
  • In 1889, Reed designed the attached chapter house in a style matching Butterfield’s.
  • On November 15, 1889, the cathedral’s bells were dedicated and first rung for the departure of Sir Henry Loch (later Baron Loch), the Governor of Victoria.
  • On January 22, 1891, the cathedral (without the spires) was consecrated by the Rt Revd Field Flowers Goe, Bishop of Melbourne.
  • In 1926, construction of the spires began to a new design by John Barr of Sydney, in a more traditional Gothic Revival style and with different stone from the Sydney area. It was also much taller than Butterfield’s original design.
  • In 1929, the pipe organ was rebuilt by Hill, Norman & Beard when the action was electrified and a new console supplied.
  • In 1932, the spires reached their full height
  • On April 30, 1933 a service of thanksgiving was held for their completion.
  • The 1960s saw extensive work completed to the exterior of the cathedral
  • On November 28, 1986, on his arrival in Melbourne, Pope John Paul II paid a visit to St Paul’s Cathedral in recognition of the dialogue between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in Melbourne fostered by their respective former archbishops, the Most Reverend Sir Frank Woods (Anglican) and the Most Reverend Sir Frank Little (Roman Catholic).  As the Pope entered the cathedral, the choir sang “Ecce vicit Leo.” After this, the Pope prayed for Christian unity and lit a meter-long candle.
  • From 1989 – 90, the $726,000 restoration work of the organwas completed, by Harrison & Harrison Ltd, Durham, with the help of a major National Trust The façade pipe stenciling was done by Marc Nobel, Christine Holmes and John Dale after a design by Lyon, Cottier, Wells & Company.
  • On November 28, 2007, a carol service called Carols from St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne featuring the cathedral choir, was recorded by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and broadcast Australia-wide on Christmas Eve.
  • In 2009, the A$18 million, seven-year major restoration works, under the guidance of Falkinger Andronas Architects and Heritage Consultants (now Andronas Conservation Architecture) and undertaken by Cathedral Stone, were completed. Significant repairs were done to restore the spires. Stone heads of the former dean David Richardson and the philanthropist Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, created by Melbourne sculptor Smiley Williams and carved by stonemason Daryl Gilbert, were added to the spires.  Also installed were the colored glass “Eighth Day” lantern, in the Moorhouse Tower, and  new dalle de verre colored glass doors, created by Janusz and Magda Kuszbicki, and a glass walled airlock for the west Great West door.

The south aisle

The interior, compared to the exterior, feature rich colors and strident color contrasts, characteristic of Butterfield’s work, with all the stonework constructed using Waurn Ponds limestone, its stripes contrasting with the very dark-colored local bluestone.

Chancel and High Altar

The dado (created with patterned glazed tiles), floor (entirely paved with encaustic tile imported from the English firm of Maw & Co., featuring both patterned layouts and patterns within the tiles), high altar and reredos (made from Devonshire marble, alabaster and glittering Venetian glass mosaics) are outstanding examples of High Victorian Gothic polychromy.

The narthex

In Persian tile, on the rear wall of the narthex, is a replica of an 8-pointed star found in two churches of the Anglican Diocese of Iran (the church of St. Simon the Zealot in Shiraz and St. Luke’s Church in Isfahan).  There are two baptismal fonts – a round font of Harcourt granite (installed when the cathedral was first built) and a cruciform immersion font (built in 1912 in memory of Field Flowers Goe, third Bishop of Melbourne). One of the carved figures on the pulpit is said to be the image of a daughter, who died in infancy, of the former Mayor of Melbourne.

Baptismal Font (South Aisle)

The Chapel of Unity, a memorial chapel, commemorates the historic visit of Pope John Paul II: only the third time in four centuries when a reigning Pope had made an official visit to an Anglican cathedral.

Immersion Font

The pipe organ, commissioned from English builder T. C. Lewis and Co  (one of the most prominent organ builders of the 19th century) of Brixton, England, cost over 6,500 pounds for its construction, shipping and installation before it was played at the cathedral’s 1891 inaugural service .

Interior from the south aisle

Since then, various modifications and maintenance works have been carried out. After the 1989 -90 restoration, the organ, housed in the cathedral’s south transept behind newly stenciled façade pipes, now has four manuals and pedals with 53 stops, all with electro-pneumatic action.

Commemorative plaques along the wall

St. Paul’s ring of 13 bells, a gift from Thomas Dyer Edwardes and all cast by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1889, consists of 12 bells set for change ringing in the key of C♯, plus an extra bell to allow different subsets of the full number to be rung still to a diatonic scale.  The tenor originally weighed 31 cwt but, after the whole set was sent to Taylor’s Bell Foundry in 1963 for retuning, it now weighs 29cwt.

One of the cathedral’s stained glass windows

St. Paul’s Cathedral : 198 -206 Flinders Street cor. Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Tel: 9653 4333. E-mail: welcome@stpaulscathedral.org.au. Website: www.stpaulscathedral.org.au. Open Mondays to Fridays, 8 AM – 6 PM; Saturdays, 9 AM – 4 PM and Sundays, 7:30 AM – 7:30 PM.  Masses: Sundays (8 AM, 9 AM, 10.30 AM, 6 PM), Mondays to Saturdays (12.15 PM).

Federation Square (Melbourne, Australia)

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Federation Square

Federation Square, a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district, covers an area of 3.2 ha (7.9 acres) and was built above busy railway lines and across the road from Flinders Street station.

It incorporates major cultural institutions (Ian Potter Centre, ACMI, Koorie Heritage Trust, etc.) as well as cafes and bars, in a series of buildings centered around a large paved square, and a glass walled atrium.

Check out “Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia“

Melbourne’s central city grid was designed without a central public square, long seen as a missing element. From the 1920s there were proposals to roof the railway yards on the southeast corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets for a public square, with more detailed proposals prepared in the 1950s and 1960s.

In the 1960s, the Melbourne City Council decided that the best place for the City Square was the corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, opposite the town hall. The first temporary square opened in 1968, and a permanent version opened in 1981. It was however not considered a great success, and was redeveloped in the 1990s as a smaller simpler space in front of a new large hotel.

Meanwhile, in the late 1960s, a small part of the railway lines had been partly roofed by the construction of the Princes Gate Towers, known as the Gas & Fuel Buildings after their major tenant, the Gas and Fuel Corporation, over the old Princes Bridge station.

This included a plaza on the corner, which was elevated above the street and little used. Between the plaza and Batman Avenue, which ran along the north bank of the Yarra River, were the extensive Jolimont Railway Yards, and the through train lines running into Flinders Street station under Swanston Street.

This open public square had its beginnings in 1996 when the then Premier Jeff Kennett announced that the Gas & Fuel Buildings would be demolished, the rail yards roofed and a complex including arts facilities and a large public space to be named Federation Square would be built.

Lobby of Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

It was opened in 2001, in time to celebrate the centenary of Australia’s Federation, and included performing arts facilities, a gallery, a cinemedia center, the public space, a glazed winter garden, and ancillary cafe and retail spaces.

Built at a cost of approximately $467 million (over four times the original estimate of between $110 and $128 million), its main funding came primarily from the state government, some from the federal government, $64 million from the City of Melbourne while private operators and sponsors paid for fit outs or naming rights. The square was opened on October 26, 2002.

Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) – Australia’s national museum of film, video games, digital culture and art

In 2006, the vaults under Princes Walk (a former roadway) were redeveloped by Federation Wharf into a large bar, with extensive outdoor areas on the Yarra riverbank, with elevator access to Federation Square.

In October 2011, Elizabeth II visited Federation Square. On October 2018, an interim decision to list Fed Square to the Victorian Heritage Register resulted in the square being formally listed in August 2019.

Occupying roughly a whole urban block bounded by Swanston, Flinders, and Russell Streets and the Yarra River, Federation Square is directly opposite Flinders Street station and St Paul’s Cathedral.

The precinct’s layout was designed to connect Melbourne’s historical central district with the Yarra River and Birrarung Marr, a new park.

Its complex and irregular design had gently angled ‘cranked’ geometries (predominating in both the planning and the facade treatment of the various buildings and the winter gardens that surrounded and defined the open spaces) while a series of ‘shards’ provided vertical accents.

Interconnected laneways and stairways and the winter garden connects Flinders Street to the Yarra River. The open square, arranged as a gently sloping amphitheater, is focused on a large viewing screen for public events, with a secondary sloped plaza area on the main corner.

The 1.3 m. high bronze statue of the Fearless Girl by Kristen Visbal

Federation Square: intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets.

Ian Potter Center: NGV Australia (Melbourne)

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Ian Potter Centre – NGV Australia

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, an  art gallery that houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), is a legacy of the businessman and philanthropist Sir Ian Potter. It presents the story of Australian art through a comprehensive program of temporary exhibitions and extensive displays.

Check out “Federation Square”

Museum entrance

The country’s first public art museum dedicated to Australian art, it houses one of the oldest and most well known art collections in the country and has almost 25,000 Australian artworks, including paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, fashion and textiles.

Museum lobby

At one time, approximately 800 works are displayed in the new building and many of these are rotated frequently to show the full breadth and diversity of Australian art, and to provide visitors with fresh insights. The NGV’s international works are displayed at the NGV International on St Kilda Road.

The author at the museum

The collection, also acknowledging the power, primacy and cultural diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, presents some of Indigenous art’s major historical and contemporary works. The collection includes works in a range of media by male and female artists, including William Barak, Judy Watson, Emily Kngwarray and Uta Uta Tjangala.

Autumn Memories (Frederick McCubbin)

Well-known and superb works featured at the Ian Potter Centre include  non-Indigenous art, from the Colonial period to the present day, including some of the genre’s most iconic paintings such as Frederick McCubbin‘s poignant triptych The Pioneer (1904), Tom Roberts‘ Shearing the Rams (1890), and works from Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Arthur Streeton, John Perceval, Margaret Preston, Bill Henson, Howard Arkley and Fred Williams.

The Bathers (E. Phillips Fox)

The Ian Potter Centre, designed by Lab Architecture Studio in association with Bates Smart of Melbourne, headed by Peter Davidson and Donald Bates, has earned the designers the RAIA National Award for Interior Architecture as well as the Marion Mahony Interior Architecture Award.

Black Sun (Inge King)

There was plenty to see in the normal free exhibitions so, unless you have a particular interest in the special ones, you’ll still see lots and enjoy the visit.

Faun and Nymph (Rayner Hoff, bronze)

As we arrived just a little over an hour before closing time during our visit, we just saw the free exhibits which were Lucy McRae Body Architect, Petrina Hicks: Bleached Gothic, Olympia: Photographs by Polixeni Papapetrou, Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV, Roger Kemp: Visionary Modernist, The Joseph Brown Collection, Civilization: The Way We Live Now, 20th Century Australian Art and Late 20th and 21st Century Australian Art.

Check out “Lucy McRae Body Architect Exhibit,” “Petrina Hicks: Bleached Gothic Exhibit,” “Olympia: Photographs by Polixeni Papapetrou Exhibit,” “Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV Exhibit,” “Roger Kemp: Visionary Modernist Exhibit,” The Joseph Brown Collection Exhibit,” “Civilization: The Way We Live Now Exhibit,” “20th Century Australian Art Exhibit” and “Late 20th and 21st Century Australian Art Exhibit.”

Marking Time: Indigenous Art From the NGV (Level 3, August 17, 20 19 – June 14, 2020) explores drawings and markings of figures, signs or text made on public surfaces across Indigenous Australia, from rock face to now.

Marking Time

Reko Rennie and Brook Andrew translated incisions, on carved trees or shields, into bold neon icons, whereas Josh Muir and Hannah Brontë used video art to communicate voices of dissent, create dialogue between groups and to effect change.

Marking Time

The Joseph Brown Collection (Level 2) displays the outstanding private collection of Australian art of artist, soldier, scholar, connoisseur, successful businessman and art dealer Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE, donated in May 2004, the most generous single gift of works of art ever made to a public gallery in Australia.

The Joseph Brown Collection

The Joseph Brown Collection

Civilization: The Way We Live Now (Ground Level, September 13, 2019 – February 2, 2020), an international photography exhibition of monumental scale, exhibits over 200 original photographs of over 100 contemporary photographers from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe.

Civilization – The Way We Live Now

In this increasingly globalized world, the exhibition explores photographers’ representations of life in cities as its key theme and presents a journey through the shared aspects of life in the urban environment.

Bryan, Cheska and Kyle at the Civilization: The Way We Live Now exhibit

The modern and bright Crossbar Café, on Level 3, has lovely views of the Yarra River.

White Sacred Baboon (Brett Whiteley)

Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia: Federation Square, Flinders St. and Russell St., Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Open daily, 10 AM- 5 PM. Closed Christmas Day and Good Friday. Admission to the permanent collection is free. Fees may apply to special exhibitions, as advertized. Tel: 8620 2222. E-mail: enquiries@ngv.vic.gov.au. Website: www.ngv.vic.gov.au.