cover: 13. Xay, the local artist, Phu Kham 2012 oil on canvas 61 x 46 cm (detail) Published in association with the exhibition Our People, Community and Landscape: an exhibition of paintings from PanAust’s operations in Laos by Peter Churcher PanAust Limited Level 1, 15 James Street Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Qld Australia 4006 www.panaust.com.au in conjunction with Philip Bacon Galleries 2 Arthur Street Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Qld Australia 4006 www.philipbacongalleries.com.au All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers. Printed by Printcraft, Australia Design by Les Robinson Typeset in Linotype Frutiger Text copyright: © The authors All photographs reproduced by permission All paintings reproduced by permission © Peter Churcher O u r p e Op l e , c O m m u n it y a n d l a n d s c a p e an exhibition of paintings from panaust’s operations in laos by peter churcher 23. Young man sitting in his shop, Ban Nam Mo 2012 oil on canvas 35 x 27 cm 2 introduction ms lynda Worthaisong australian ambassador to laos i would like to congratulate Gary stafford and panaust in southeast asia. as one of the first companies to for commissioning this stunning collection of paintings develop a major mine in the country, panaust has of laos by the well-known australian artist peter also played an important role in developing today’s churcher. this initiative exemplifies the increasingly successful modern mining industry in laos. diverse connections and collaboration that exist i am very pleased that panaust is also making between laos and australia. important contributions to social development, australia and laos have had a diplomatic education and training in laos, and that it has been relationship that dates back to 1952. Our relationship recognised for these efforts through prestigious awards has been characterised by practical cooperation in many from the lao Government, the asia mining congress fields, as well as increasingly strong political, trade and and others. investment, cultural and people-to-people ties. in support of sustainable and equitable australian development assistance as well as development in laos, the private sector as well as the australian private sector investments have made lao Government and development partners, each increasingly significant contributions to the lao have a key role to play supporting rural development, economy. it is rewarding to see the improvements in education, health and basic infrastructure. We have people’s standards of living, and to meet lao people shared interests in working collaboratively towards who have studied or trained in australia or with common goals to support and preserve the beauty of australian companies, and to know that australia is laos and the wellbeing of its people. making a positive difference in laos. in this context, it is wonderful to see the spirit, panaust is the biggest australian investor in laos, the hope and the beauty of laos and its people, as with around a$1 billion invested to date. Within a witnessed and captured by peter churcher in this decade of commencing operations in laos, panaust collection of work. has become a leading copper and gold producer 3 12. View from the road out of Ban Houayxai 2012 oil on canvas 46 x 61 cm 4 peter churcher in laos mr philip Bacon director, philip Bacon Galleries the role of the art dealer has been described as akin to 2002 and now forms part of their permanent collection. that of a marriage broker, bringing together two parties churcher is one of australia’s foremost realist painters; who might seem, on first glance, to be not particularly he has a parallel career as a sought after portrait painter. well matched. some of his official portraits include that of former But when Gary stafford first asked me about a australian Governor General, peter Hollingworth, in vague idea he had of having an artist record panaust’s parliament House, canberra; sir Gustave nossal in the operations in laos, it was peter churcher who first came national portrait Gallery, canberra; and professor John to mind. Hay at the university of Queensland. For a start, peter was an artist who Gary was already as well as these formal commissions, since moving to familiar with. indeed, he had already acquired several of Barcelona in 2006, churcher has painted with style and peter’s works. and peter, i knew, was more than capable élan the street life of that bustling mediterranean city. of undertaking such a commission. the colour and movement of the justly famous Barcelona the template was already there in a body of work food markets have an echo in the studies he has made of that churcher had completed for the australian War the markets, villages and people of laos. memorial as Official War artist in 2002, recording the whole gamut of panaust’s activities in laos – from australia’s involvement in the international coalition the mine workers to the villagers, and the landscape and against terrorism. selected for the diversity and narrative to the infrastructure itself – has been captured forever power of his images, his brief was to record the activities in this exciting body of work by one of australia’s most of the royal australian navy and the royal australian air accomplished and insightful artists. Force in the middle east, and diego Garcia in the indian this has been a ‘marriage’ of which i am utterly proud Ocean. the resulting collection of some 45 works was and one in which both parties have more than lived up shown to great acclaim at the War memorial in June to their side of the contract. 5 5. View of the pit, Phu Kham 2012 oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm 6 making a difference mr Gary stafford managing director, panaust limited it is not often that your career takes you to a place where the interaction and the sharing of benefits with the you can honestly say that your endeavours have made a local communities that surround us that are key to our difference to whole communities let alone to the fabric success, and all of this is achieved in the midst of the of a nation. yet everybody that works for panaust enjoys most glorious and beautiful landscape that you can that distinction. never tire of. i can remember my first visit to the villages of nam Just 12 years after my first visit, these communities Gnone and nam mo adjacent to the then largely have been transformed by panaust’s employment undiscovered phu Kham deposit. the houses were very policies and community initiatives. there has been an basic in construction and the villagers in nam Gnone emergence of a cash economy driven by employment had to trek several kilometres to the nearest clean source from the phu Kham Operation and cultivation of cash of water. shops were few and sold very basic packaged crops. in turn, this has led to investment by villagers in essentials, there was no electricity and the subsistence their own homes and a significant divergence of diet and sources of food were rice, pigs and fish. malnutrition improvement in health. all of this is evident in their own caused by poor diet, gastric illnesses and a very high personal standards, hygiene and health, use of steel roofs maternal mortality rate were the norm. in house construction, bustling wet and dry markets phu Kham and our new operation at Ban Houayxai and the proliferation of motor bikes, mobile phones deploy best practice in terms of training, mining and televisions. and environmental management. We strive to the On a national level, panaust is australia’s biggest highest standards in safety and leadership. But it is investor in laos and we account for somewhere close 7 16. Geo-technician logging core, Phu Kham 2012 oil on canvas 46 x 38 cm 8 making a difference to 10 per cent of their gross domestic product and in laos. subsequently, i was able to persuade the Board 30 per cent of exports. panaust is a highly regarded of panaust to support the project. foreign investor in laos, and is often used as an it is our intention that the paintings remain as a example for other investors. in 2013, we hope to collection through 2013 with exhibitions in melbourne, commit to our third mine development this time in Brisbane, sydney and Vientiane so that friends and the northern part of the country near the town of supporters of the company and our employees have an phonsavan. opportunity to see the collection as a whole. i do hope When i am not running panaust, i am an occasional you enjoy Our People, Community and Landscape: an and novice collector of art. i acquire because i am drawn exhibition of paintings from panaust’s operations in by the vision and interpretation of an artist of his or laos by peter churcher. the collection is a celebration her subject. i already possess two of peter churcher’s of the contribution panaust and its people have made paintings that were painted in his Barcelona studio. to the communities and fabric of laos, as much as it is a Whenever peter paints the human form he empathises celebration of the people and the spirit of laos. with the subject and they reflect the warmth of the artist’s intention while the eyes retain a vulnerable quality. it was this empathy and peter’s buoyant personality that encouraged me to ask if he would be interested in a commission to paint our operations, the landscape and the people and communities that are key to our success 9 8.