Pictures 1953

Catalogue / Memoir
Introduction Pictures Objects Animations

PICTURES are both finished and ephemeral works made for animations.

1949----   1950----   1951----   1952----   1953----   1954----   1955----   1956----   1957----   1958----   1959----   1960----   1961----   1962----   1963----   1964----   1965----   1966----   1967----   1968----   1969----   1970----   1971----   1972----   1973----   1974----   1975----   1976----   1977----   1978----   1979----   1980----   1981----   1982----   1983----   1984----   1985----   1986----   1987----   1988----   1989----   1990----   1991----   1992----   1993----   1994----   1995----   1996----   1997----   1998----   1999----   2000----   2001----   2002----   2003----   2004----   2005----   2006----   2007----   2008----   2009----   2010----   2011----   2012----   2013----   2014----   2015----   2016----   2017----   2018----   2019----   2020----   2021----   2022----   2023----   2024----   2025----   2026----  

Imagine a tunnel from Harewood to Harwood.

Page from first journal of Tom Roberts,
my English ancestor, aged 8,
his father's discarded 1859 diary.
Richard Roberts collection, Port Melbourne

We live right on the airport at Harewood New Zealand, in a government housing estate.

I first see Tom's diary in Kallista after sailing with my family from Christchurch to Australia to live in Tom's house Talisman in Kallista.

I find the diary in a big old wooden chest where Tom and Lillie stored their treasures - visitors books, photos, children's drawings and other things. The wooden chest is heavy, made of think wood and hand-carved. By contract the diary is tiny, light and bound in soft thin dark leather. It feels well worn. Its pages are thin so you can see through them.

One day in Kallista Nadya chased me with a hoola hoop and I climbed inside the wooden chest to hide. As I draw the hoop now I imagine the world. I remember digging with my friend Graham, a tunnel from Harewood (NZ) to Harwood (UK)

LR. Hoop dancer. Pencil on A4 paper

At Harewood airport I had a friend called Graham. Our fathers worked there as technicians. They'd told us that if we dug deep enough we would reach England. We imaged the curve of the earth. The ground around was hard and flat. We were four and small. We dug and dug for ages. I do remember that.

EVENTS

1953: Britain exploded several atomic devices at Wimera.

1953: Australian Atomic Energy Commission created as a statitutory body to manage the search, mining and disposal

1953: Oil discovered by West Australian Petroleum Ltd. near Exmouth Gulf, W.A. at Rough Range Well No. 1.

Ref. The Australian Almanac, Pub. Angus & Robertson 1985

Coronation of Elizabeth II is held in the United Kingdom;

Joseph Stalin dies, ending an era of Soviet rule;

the Korean Armistice Agreement ends the Korean War;

the Attack on the Moncada Barracks launches the Cuban Revolution;

the 1953 Iranian coup d'etat topples Mohammad Mosaddegh;

the East German uprising of 1953 is suppressed;

the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition achieves the first ascent;

the North Sea flood of 1953 devastates Western Europe;

the Tangiwai disaster kills 151 in New Zealand.

Written by me, Lisa Roberts/Euphausia superba (Antarctic krill), on

19/04/2026