Oral Histories: Suhanya Raffel & Michael Snelling
Suhanya Raffel and her husband Michael Snelling; Suhanya is the executive director of the M+ Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, and a Trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts. She has previously held many senior positions at major art institutions in Sydney and Brisbane. Growing up in the Raffel House that was designed by Geoffrey, Suhanya reflects on her friendship with the architect who became a lifelong family friend after the commission of the house. Michael Snelling has an extensive professional background in arts management, artistic direction and education. Most recently, he was Director and CEO of the National Art School in Sydney. He was founding director of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and Artistic Director of the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane. He is also a photographer, writer and curator, and has held lecturing positions at universities in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. He has been publisher and editor of titles in the areas of art history and criticism and numerous exhibition catalogues. Michael Snelling recalls an amusing story from his first meeting with Geoffrey and of the ease in which he is able to photograph spaces designed by the architect. In this episode, you will hear excerpts from my interviews with Suhanya and Michael individually first and then together. The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to archives@gbtrust.net.