Tang Exhibition NSW Art Gallery

Recently the Art Gallery of NSW held a Tang Exhibition: Treasure from the Silk Road Capital.

"The exhibition brings to light the fascinating lifestyle of the women of Chang’an. 
The diverse culture of Chang’an during the Tang dynasty brought about a time of great tolerance and openness that saw women gain a remarkable increase in freedom. 
The apex of this empowerment was the more than 20-year reign of Empress Wu Zeitan, the only female sovereign in Chinese dynastic history. 

Women were also increasingly represented in art during the Tang dynasty.

Buddhism thrived in the Tang Empire with many emperors offering imperial patronage of the religion. 

Private patrons were also prevalent with merchants, foreign dignitaries, women’s groups, military leaders and families sponsoring impressive temples." 

Whenever I visit the Art Gallery of NSW, part of the pleasure is enjoying a coffee in the cafe gardens.
During this visit I was joined by a very curious magpie and a beautiful rainbow lorikeet.

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot

Snapshot Saturday #4

Saturday Snapshot is a meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.

The rules are simple:

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

 

 

Many of you enjoy taking photos of birds...and you all do a much better job of it than me (I've only just discovered the zoom for close-ups of plants etc!)
This is my attempt to combine my love of blogging and my love of watching my boys at their weekend sport!!

When I spotted the Australian White Ibis strutting around the soccer field last weekend I thought it was too good an oppourtunity to miss.

Here was my chance to find out about a bird that I knew nothing about, yet saw all the time in parks and public areas around Sydney.

A quick wikipedia check informs me that they once happily lived around the marshy areas of north western NSW. However, since the 70's they have been migrating into the coastal city regions, quickly becoming pests as they scavenge in bins.

This has earnt them the  nicknames of 'Dump Chook' and 'Tip Turkey'!! Originally though, they were called Mardungurra by the Yindjibarndi people.

Appparently the ibis is also very smelly (although I didn't get close enough to confirm or deny this!)

This particular ibis spent his morning searching for scraps of sausage sandwiches and orange peel.