Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak this evening about one of the treasures that I have uncovered on the Central Coast in recent times. One in particular is a wonderful man whose work is celebrated in this book, a gentleman by the name of Michael Galovic, who does the most incredible iconography. I came to know him through my meeting with the local Greek community, which is a burgeoning community on the Central Coast. I met with them in February on the first occasion at Saint Haralambos for the feast day, which was on the concrete that forms part of the church that is now under construction in the suburb of Tuggerah at the northern end of the Central Coast.

The Greek Orthodox community has been working for years to plan and save for this brand new church. It culminated on that day in the laying of the foundation stone on what is to be the floor of the church. The parishioners and worshippers packed a big tent. Outside, all the food was being prepared for the community celebration. Hundreds of people packed the site to celebrate this great day of achievement; and the community that came from Sydney to support this community is acknowledged.

I want to take this opportunity to formally acknowledge the amazing work of the members of this committee and the many others who have helped them to achieve this very holy goal—particularly, Mr Jim Dimis, who is the senior vice-president, and Dr Tas Fermanis. They have shown great vision and leadership in bringing this community together around this tremendous project. It is hard to believe, but they have been fundraising so successfully and working so hard that they are hoping to have the roof on and to have the church dedicated as early as November this year, which is no small achievement.

Last weekend, on Sunday, I was able to join Tas and Gloria Fermanis for a wonderful fundraising lunch at their home, which they opened to the Greek community. They raised more than $3,500 towards the church through that single event. It was at that great occasion that I met a national treasure by the name of Michael Galovic. Michael was born and schooled in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and is a 1974 graduate of the Belgrade Academy of Arts. He began absorbing the ancient tradition of iconography as a child while watching his stepfather restoring frescoes and icons in the Serbian churches and monasteries there.

In early 19990, Australia became his new home. Since his arrival, Michael has held many solo shows. His icons and contemporary work are renowned throughout Australia. As he was explaining to me, he delights in living in the quiet and close community of the Central Coast when much of his artwork now engages him in international showings and in the international art community.

Michael engages in a few parallel directions, including traditional icons, contemporary religious art and non-religions art. He keeps revisiting a theme he graduated with—the flight and fall of Icarus—as well as the crucifixion. Most recently he has been particularly focussed on building a body of work based on Uluru, the sacred rock in the Northern Territory. After many years of teaching art and art making, he decided to completely dedicate himself to his own studio and work in a gallery on the Central Coast.

His work has been highly admired internationally. He created a depiction of Saint Benedict, which became a gift to the now retired Pope Benedict. He was explaining to me how delighted he was to receive notification from the papal offices of how much his work was appreciated. Indeed, I think that Cardinal Pell, former Archbishop of Sydney, has in his offices one of Michael's works, a picture of Saint Francis.

So, on the Central Coast, yet another range of treasures discovered. Apart from the beautiful environment we live in, it is also a community that really appreciates the works of art that are generated there. It is a thriving and growing artistic community and we are very proud amongst the Greek community to be able to celebrate the works of Michael Galovic.