TOWNSVILLE
BULLTIN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17,
1991
TOPICS-----------------PAGE 5
Changes needed before we measure
up
to this Swede's
expectations.
The man who would be
Mayor
by Mary Vernon
Ture Sjolander is eager
to become a citizen of Australia - but he rejects anything to do with Britain or
the Queen.
"I love Australia, my
greatest concern is that Australians don't love it enough. As soon it is
possible to become a citizen of Australia without becoming a subject of the
Queen then I will seize the opportunity" he said.
In the meantime ex-artist
Ture, 54, will keep his Swedish passport and keep hoping for the social changes
he sees as vital for Australia in general and for Townsville i
particular.
"I am tired of art,
painting has no relevance in this modern age" said Sjolander, whose work is
exhibited in Sweden's National Gallery, Museum of Modern
Art and other international
galleries.
"All of society has embraced
technology, to improve performance and to reach as many people as possible
except for the artistic world. It is blinkered and tied to the principle of
one-off paintings and limited edition prints.
"Perhaps it is still relevant
in the Third World countries which have no access to technology but in the
Western World it is finished. It is like making only one hand-written copy
of a book".
He recently sponsored a
public competition to find a new name for the combined city of
Townsville/Thuringgova. The winner of the $500 prize was Don Talbot of
Cranbrook whose suggestion was "Queensland City".
"There are many things
I would like to see in Australia," he said. "We must throw off the British
colonial system. The majority of Australians are not of Anglo Saxon
origin and they do not want to be part of the
British system. Having the British queen as the queen of Australia is
ridiculous.
"And the constitution of
Australia - it is based on the Magna Charta and it is not appropriate to
Australia today. " We must embrace multiculturalism and on that foundation build
a strong, self-sufficient country like America. "The minority cannot lead the
majority. I believe that on the declaration of the Republic of Australia most of
those 700.000 who now hold permanent resident visas, like me, would flock to
become citizens."
He first came to Australia
1982 when he visited all the capital cities and the outback and begane his love
affaier witk this country.
His biggest shock on that
first trip was meeting the great Australian mateship tradition and completely
misinterpreting it.
"I had only recently arrived
in the country, I was in Canberra and I was thirsty. I found a bar and went in,
but when I saw it was full of about 200 men drinking together and no woman I
turned round and hurried out. I thought it was the biggest homosexual club I had
ever seen"
He laughs now over his
mistake, but still believes we must let go our convict past, in which he thinks
the mateship tradition is rooted, to grow and expand in a truly Australian
way.
After his first trip he
come back again on his way to a film project in Papua Guinea. He met his future
wife, Maria,
a Filipino-born Australian in Sydney and, after
tidying up his affairs in Sweden he arrived to settle and marry her in Australia
in 1988.
"We came to Magnetic
Island for our honeymoon and liked Townsville so much we stayed."
Although they have now
separated, Ture continues to live in Townsville with his 20-month-old son, Matu
because he thinks it is an ideal place.
When he first arrived, he
found that people were much friendlier if they thought he was a tourist. They
would welcome him and offer help. If he said he lived here, their concern and
interest shut of immediately.
"S I started to pretend that
I was a tourist and people in shops and buses and taxis were extremely
friendly. When I saw the same person again I would tell them I was back again on
holiday."
Ture has abandoned this game
now and hopes for a political future.
His concerns are many and he
is passionate about them all. Ture Sjolander not one to remain uncommitted even
though some of his views may seem contradictory.
On the one hand he is
concerned about over-developement of Townsville. He feels that it is a good size
now and double the population, as some developers have promised to do would
destroy the lifestyle many find attractive.
"We don't want another
Brisbane or Sydney here. Europe is full of cities which have followed this route
and have been ruined by over-development and
over-industrialism.
"We don't want that to happen
here".
He believes it would be
preferable to spread developement around among the various North Queensland
centres, so that all can grow a little , but not too much.
But on the other hand
he is keen to see developement on Palm
Island.
" I believe that Palm Island
could be a great tourist tourist attraction. It is so naturally beautiful, and
so close to the reef. "We should negotiate with the community there to build up
tourism, to build a resort, maybe to stage an annual festival there. " It is a
great resource and on which is not being used".
While he waits for the
republic and his chance at Australian citizenship, Ture spends his time caring
for his small son. "I have a single parent's allowance, which let me stay home
and look after Matu. Besides that, I have royalties from my books and artworks which are on public display in Sweden. " Under
Swedish law, artworks are treated the same way as music and books here. If they
are on show royalties are paid to the artists for the
privilege"
THE COURIER MAIL
BRISBANE,
AUSTRALIA,
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25,
1992
ARTIST TO FINE TUNE THE RELEVANCE OF
ART
By Sonia Ulliana
in Townsville
ARTIST Ture Sjolander will
spend $10.000 of taxpayers' money raising the ire of north
Queenslanders.
Mr Sjolander, of Townsville,
a Swedish expatriate, says he will expose the harsh realities of the social
issues affecting the area i a series of two-minutes segments of "electronic art"
to be aired weekly on television.
he will buy the air-time with
a State Government arts grant.
"This is not a paint brush,
it is a power tool," Mr Sjolander said.
"I will criticise all the
things that people ignore or don't want to think about to make them aware
through art. "So much art doesn't touch people anymore, or has no
relevance."
Mr Sjolander, a passionate
and outspoken man, has been involved in art from painting to videoproduction,
since 1962.
He has written several
internationally published books, including Garbo, a
pictorial biography of movie star Greta Garbo,
and was commissioned by the 70s Swedish rock phenomenon Abba to create
a tapestry.
Mr Sjolander was also
commissioned by silent screen star Charlie
Chaplin to produce an art
portfolio.
In Townsville he is seen as a
controversial figure.
He recently held a public
competition to create a new name for the combination Townsville city and
Thuringgova shire under the Electorial and Administrative Review Committee's
amalgamation recomendations.
The winner was Don Talbot,
who received $500 for his suggestion of "QUEENSLAND CITY".
The competition provoked
debate around the town.
With the help of his
Creative Development Grant, Mr
Sjolander hopes to tackle a host of controversial issues; Townsville General
Hospital's Ward 10B - subject of the Carter inquiry into the treatment of
mentally ill patients, violence among Aborigines on Palm
Island, X-rated videos, tattoos, politics and
religion.
"These are all the things
that happen in this area and they should be expressed in art to reflect the
area," Mr Sjolander said.
He believes art in the modern
world should be expressed using technology and says that paintings are
out-dated.
He has even devised a plan to
exhibit art on the walls of Townsville Airport terminal "for all the world to
see".
The large vacant walls in the
terminal should be used to hang paintings and tapestries, and sculptures could
adorn the flight deck, the first-class lounge and the departure lounge, he
said.
His proposal suggest that the
artworks be acquired on a six-montly basis and artists may have them on for
sale.
"So there is no limit to what
you can do."
Text from
Townsville
Bulletin
Friday, November 29,
1991
NEWS
(page 5)
Local artist paints picture
of a unique airport environement
A PILOT project to display
art on the vacant wall spaces at the Townsville airport has been proposed by
local artist Ture Sjolander.
Acting Townsville airport
manager Phil Roben said the suggestion was interesting and a meeting to discuss
the matter would be held next week. " I believe such a display could complement
the terminal very well," he said.
Mr Sjolander believes that as
the airport is the first point of contact for businessmen, domestic and overseas
tourists and returning residents, there was no reason why the airport itself
should not become an attraction.
"I propose that the large
vacant wall spaces be used for a semi-permanent art display which could include
a number of large paintings and tapestries. " In addition to this, a small
number of free standing sculptured piece could be easily be
accomodated."
Mr Sjolander believed the
flight deck, the first class lounge and the departure lounge were other
attractive areas where graphic and smaller size artworks could be
displayed.
"These could be accomplished
with minimal installation of lighting and hanging equipment," he
said.
"The pilot project for
Townsville airport can be realised with very little outlay, mutually benefiting
the professional contemporary artists of North Queensland and the Federal
Airports Corporation".
From this experiment could
evolve the creation of a unique airport environement which could become the
blueprint for others, Mr Sjolander said. He also envisaged the formation of an
art investment consultancy group under the airport corporation for future
interstate exhibition exchange.
Support for the venture has
been pledged by Perc Tucker Gallery director Ross Searle and artist and
James Cook University art teacher Anne Lord, both of whom have expressed wish to
join Mr Sjolander on the selection committee for the first
exhibition.
From:
Men in Business - Advertiser, August 3, 1989
Sjolander a pioneering
artist
Mr Ture Sjolander's artistic
work represents more than one technique, from traditional tapestry work to
visualisation of electronic computing.
Mr Sjolander has earned an
international reputation for his multimedia art work since his debut in
1960.
"Mr Sjolander has also served
as a member of the board of the Swedish Artists Society," former Minister for
Cultural Affairs in Sweden, Mr Bengt Goransson.
"He is represented at the Museum of Modern Art,
Stockholm, the Swedish Government, the City of Stockholm and the Royal Fund for
Swedish Culture have awarded him grants for his work."
He received the top grant for
scientific art research from the Royal Swedish Academy of
Art.
He is skilled in all kinds of
printing techniques and is also a professional
photographer.
Mr Sjolander has written
several internationally published books.
For example he wrote a
pictorial biography of Greta Garbo titled: "GARBO", for one of the largest
publisher in America, Harper and Row (Harper&Collins) and the book had
world-wide distribution.
He initiated work on a
pictorial essay on Charlie Chaplin. The dummy work was purchased by Charles
Chaplin and the finished work was titled "My Life in
Picture", 1973.
He was also commissioned by
Chaplin to produce an art portfolio which was signed by both Chaplin and Mr
Sjolander.
Mr Sjolanderwas commissioned
by the Swedish band
ABBA, to produce graphic prints and a tapestry used in the sponsorship of
the 1977 America's Cup.
He established an electronic
picture laboratory in Stockholm, VIDEO-NU, for artistic research and was the
administrator of the laboratory from 1980-1986.
Mr Sjolander has created
monumental sized interior artwork for large industrial complexes in Sweden using
various techniques.
He has had a large number of
seminars and exhibitions throughout Europe and he participated in the Fifth Biennale in
Paris.
He has given lectures
throughout world on art and technology, includinga lecture last year at the
Australian Film Institute in Sydney.
One of the topics of his
lectures is possible establishment of multicultural communication by
satellite.
This would include a three
week international TV high tech and arts festival, the commersialisation of
peace via satellite and the formation of an internatinal lobby group to connect
all Television systems of the world.
He is presently involved with
negotiations with Uplinger Enterprises (USA), the organisation which organised
Live Aid and Sport Aid, about establishing an annual three week satellite link
up.
Campaign co-cordinator of One
World or None, Janet Hunt said the idea was marvelous. "The idea is a logical
extension as we move into the 21st century and we certainly support it." Jane
Hunt said.
Mr Sjolander has conducted
research into Townsville's history and the city council have received a proposal
to revise the history of the city.
His research has shown the
first European to land in Townsville arrived 49 years earlier then previously
believed.
The discovery may be
celebrated with a special Townsville Day and a 220 year celebration in
1990.
He is also skilled in radio
productions and TV production.
Mr Sjolander is interested in
establishing an international artist's centre in Townsville to display
exhibitions from international artists.
He is a member of the Perc
Tucker Regional Art Gallery and believes i Fusion Business.