Spiritual Archaeology
[from Croatian Herald Weekly]
Genuine Gina exhibition at ModroGorje
ModroGorje, Blue Mountains – on Thursday 1st October 2009, at ModroGorje centre in Katoomba a group of more than seventy guests gathered for the opening of Gina Sinozich exhibition.
Vesna and Damir Tenodi, ModroGorje owners, were delighted to mark the end of their house-renovations and inauguration of the centre this special event.
Vesna greeted the guests, thanking them for sharing this moment of great joy, having the gallery opened with Gina’s beautiful artworks. She said: “Before we start, we wish to acknowledge our Teacher, Master Ananda, who is the driving force behind everything we do. Another thing important to us is to show respect for the traditional owners of the land, and we are delighted to have the Darug Custodian, Chris Tobin, do the Welcome to the country.”
Chris Tobin gave the traditional Welcome to the Country in line with the Aboriginal protocol, and also expressed his delight to be a part of this significant event. Chris said: “When Vesna and Damir introduced me to Gina’s work, I’ve become a big fan quite quickly. What I see in it is the life and joy, the honesty and love. I noticed the Indigenous themes coming through in Gina’s latest works, and I’m thrilled about that. Some of us get nervous when we see the Aboriginal themes being portrayed by non-Aboriginal people, but I think we all know where Gina’s coming from. This is art from the heart, and you cannot live in this country and not be moved and shaped by the ancient culture here. So I’d like to thank you, Gina, for your bold and beautiful gift, sharing your vision and your feelings with us. And I hope that all of you here today will get some of what I get from this art, take it away with you, and let it grow in your heart.”
Jo Holder, Director of the Cross Art Projects, started her introduction of Gina by saying: “This home is clearly a miracle. And it is fantastic to be here, to have the miracle in the sense inaugurated with a painter whose work is all about miraculous and how we encounter it in our everyday lives.”
Jo briefly outlined Gina’s life and work, her struggle as a refugee settling in the new country, to the time when her husband’s illness caused her such inner turmoil that she turned to painting at the age of 70, just picked up a brush and started painting, quickly becoming aware of the healing property of art. At first, Gina wanted to leave a record for her family, but her work was quickly discovered and embraced by the major museums and galleries.
Jo was drawn to Gina’s joyous paintings of butterflies and flowers, and said: “As we turn to these Gina’s flower-paintings, we may recall Claude Monet, a founder of French impressionism, famous for his water lilies floating in ponds, or we may recall Albert Namatjira, an Arrernte man, who painted in colours so brilliant it takes your breath away. This exhibition is perhaps homage to these geniuses of flowers and mountains or perhaps also a tribute to all flower-painters, to all gardeners, to all restorers of the earth and restorers of the heritage buildings, and to custodians of significant and sacred places. Fittingly, it is spring, and here we are, in the Blue Mountains, the home to many beautiful gardens.”
“So this is an exhibition that’s about all of these glorious things that are common things to all of us as humans. Gina paints and speaks to us in order that one day the others could understand that the people who were there could see the world as it is and to see that somebody cared – that we cared.”
The sensitive appreciation by Chris and thoughtful insight by Jo brought the tears of joy to quite a few eyes. Damir presented Gina with a bouquet of a variety of native wild flowers, as a symbol of her versatility and the vibrant beauty of her artworks.
The guests then enjoyed a range of delicacies prepared by Dennis and Mira Valcich, and were impressed with Croatian cuisine and Ignjac Josipovich skillful attention to detail.
Among the guests, there was a group of 30 Croats, students within CroWell and Martial hArts projects, as well as other students, colleagues and friends both from Sydney and from the Mountains. There were representatives from all segments of the community, including Paul Howard, the curator of Casula Powerhouse, and artists Antonio Lemos, Meredith Cooper, Jose de Koster, Jan de Zwaan, Nadia Fazlic, Zelimir Matic, and members of the couple’s advanced tai chi groups.
Asked about their immediate plans, Vesna and Damir said the gallery will be open to public every Saturday from 11am to 4pm, when Damir will also conduct tai chi masterclasses for advanced students. Due to the work commitments in Sydney, they are unable to run the centre more than one day a week, but early next year they plan to dedicate three days a week to their ModroGorje endeavour.
The next event is planned for December, when there will be another exhibition by Gina.
Croatian Herald welcomes this new initiative to introduce fresh ideas and healthy attitudes into people’s lives. It is important to mention that ModroGorje will also be accessible to Croats in Sydney, and special workshops in Croatian language can be organised on request.
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