DiNo's Travels Around Australia - 2014/2015/16/17: Day 230 - Around Broken Hill, sculptures, museums, art galleries and mines

We were fearful that today would be a disaster because of a forecast 42 degree temperature. That was not to be the case because Broken Hill received most welcome storms which persisted for a couple of hours. While it cooled the place in the morning by afternoon the temperature was on the rise again.

221114 It was to be 42 degrees but then it stormed for two hours

Today was our day for further education because we were to tour sites involving sculpture, museums, art galleries, with a bit about mining thrown in for good measure.

Our first visit was to the Living Desert Sculptures, 12 sculptures sited on Sundown Hill nine kilometres outside Broken Hill.

221114 Broken Hill from Sundown Hill site of the Broken Hill Sculptures

Twelve artists carved the sculptures in the period 1 April 1993 to late May 1993. The photographs below provide a description of each sculpture, followed by a photograph of the sculpture itself.

221114 Explanation of the origin of the structures

221114 Facing the Day and the Night

221114 The Ibis

221114 Motherhood

221114 The Bride (Australia)

221114 The Moon Goddess

221114 Habitat

221114 Under the Jaguar Sun

221114 Angles of the Sun and the Moon

221114 A present for Fred Hollows in the Afterlife

221114 Rainbow Serpent

221114 Tiwi Totems

221114 Horse

We had heard Pro Hart was a native of Broken Hill and before long we were at the door of his gallery/museum. We were unable to photograph inside the gallery unfortunately. It was full of Pro Hart paintings, sketches, etchings, jewellery he had designed and painting equipment, including his "spit ball" machine. What a productive artist he was. The management did allow us to take some photographs of his Rolls Royces, of which there were four, one painted by the master himself.

221114 Pro Hart's Rolls, another in the background

221114 Two more of Pro Hart's Rolls

The Broken Hill Mining and Minerals Museum, GeoCentre came next but we will leave pictures from this museum until later. Please wait with pregnant expectation.

We could not conclude our visit to Broken Hill without a few words on mining here. The ore body, called "The Line of Load", was discovered in 1883 by a boundary rider named Charles Rasp who found what he believed to be tin, but which turned out to be silver. In 1885, mining of the ore body set the newly formed Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) on the way to becoming Australia's richest company. BHP was floated by a group of men called "The Syndicate of Seven", which included Charles Rasp. There have been many iterations in ownership over the years but today, mining continues by CBH Resources (Rasp Mine) and Perilya (Broken Hill North Mine and southern extensions), which is owned by Zhongjin Langnan, China's biggest lead and zinc producer.

221114 Line of Load - pictorial representation of the Broken Hill ore body

221114 Busts of the Syndicate of Seven, who floated
The Broken Hill Mining Company in 1883

221114 CBH Resources' operating Rasp Mine

221114 Perilya's operating Broken Hill North Mine

There are some old mines still visible and we looked at Brown's shaft at the Junction Mine and the North Mine, neither of which is operating operating.